Asheema Singh National Mission on Teachers and Teaching

Teachers are the backbone and core of the education system. Therefore, ensuring their availability and improving their quality, as well as the quality of teaching and learning, has become central to our policy discourse. Teacher education should be seen as a single continuum spanning schools to universities, and we need to think of ways to strengthen institutional mechanisms at all levels and sub-sectors so that there are vertical and horizontal linkages.

The high societal demand for education has resulted in increased expansion of the country's education system both in school and higher education. There has been a rapid expansion in the number of schools, colleges and universities, resulting in a mismatch between demand and supply, as well as a quality deficit in terms of professional qualifications, professional development. The teacher security deficit model affects the system both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The number of teachers needed at both school and university levels must double in the coming years. To this end, we must adopt a dual strategy of increasing the number of students in graduate and post graduate programs and expanding our research base. Currently, almost 40 percent of teaching positions are vacant at universities and colleges, for which teacher recruitment is to be carried out as a matter of priority.

Given the increasing demand for quality education for a population as large as ours, it is important to develop less expensive and at the same time highly interactive pedagogical tools for communicating the basic principles of science. However, unlike school teachers, college science teachers in India do not receive any formal training in science teaching. They are experts in their own discipline, but may not be aware of best practices in pedagogy, lesson planning, and assessment of learning outcomes. They develop their own teaching methods, but sometimes their methods lack a formal structure. Due to the absence of formal teacher training, there is also currently no platform to bring teachers together and help them learn from each other. A grassroots peer-to-peer network will help motivate teachers to identify scalable pedagogical tools that can be deployed across the country, taking into account curriculum, classroom size, equipment availability, etc.

Introduction

The Asheema Singh National Mission for Teachers and Teaching scheme is the culmination of Denzal Foundation's efforts in launching a comprehensive umbrella scheme aimed at improving the quality of education at all levels by infusing quality and excellence in our teachers and teaching. Teachers are the backbone and core of the education system.

With the rapid expansion n of the country's education system, both at the school and university levels, quality improvement has become a focus of educational development. Needless to say, teachers hold the key to the success of any endeavor in this direction. Attention should therefore be focused on teacher training and their working conditions in classrooms, schools and colleges, as well as their continuous professional development, which will ensure that the best talents in the country are available to shape future generations.

With this background, Hon'ble Chairperson Denzal Foundation launched the Asheema Singh National Mission for Teachers and Learning scheme on 25th December 2022.

The mission comprehensively deals with all issues related to teachers, teaching, teacher training, professional development, curriculum development, design and development of assessment and evaluation methodology, research in pedagogy and development of effective pedagogy. On the one hand, the mission deals with current and urgent problems such as the supply of qualified teachers, attracting talent to the teaching profession and improving the quality of teaching in schools and universities. On the other hand, the Mission pursues the long-term goals of building a strong professional cadre of teachers by setting performance standards and creating superior institutional facilities for innovative teaching and professional development of teachers. The mission focuses on these goals in a holistic manner and addresses the entire education sector without fragmenting programs by levels and sectors such as schools, colleges, technical etc.

The mission consists of the following components:-

• Schools of Education in Secondary, State and Intended Universities (SoE)

• Centers of excellence for curriculum and pedagogy

A. Centers of Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESME)

b. Teaching Learning Centers (TLC)

C. Faculty Development Centers (FDC)

• Inter-University Center for Teacher Education (IUCTE)

• National Information Center for Education (NRCE)

• Centers for academic leadership and educational management (CALEM)

• Innovation, Awards and Grants for Teaching Resources, including Workshops and Seminars (IATRG)

• Subject Networks for Curriculum Renewal and Reform (SBN)

• Leadership development for senior officials at universities

• Introductory training for newly hired pedagogues

• National Resource Center

• Leadership for Academic Program (LEAP)

Objectives

The Asheema Singh National Mission for Teachers and Teaching Scheme has the following objectives:

• Ensure a coordinated approach to comprehensively address the various deficiencies related to teachers and teaching across the educational spectrum from school to higher education, including technical education; using international best practices for excellence.

• Create and strengthen institutional mechanisms (schools of education, institutes of academic leadership and educational management, subject-oriented networks, teaching and learning centers, etc.) at the center and states for expanding training and capacity building in the discipline. faculties and their regular evaluation for excellence.

• To enable teachers and teachers through training, retraining, refresher and orientation programs in general skills, teaching skills, subject specific content upgrading, ICT and technology enabled training and other appropriate interventions.

Mission

Mission objectives are to be achieved by a combination of:

• Programmatic and scheme-based interventions: pre-service and continuing education through existing and new institutional structures, new academic programs and courses, strengthening graduate and doctoral programs, pre-planning of annual training calendars, online training;

• Project activities: ICT-based training, training of teachers of mathematics, science, language teachers for schools, basic science and engineering courses in technical education, general social, humanities and professional courses.

Pre-school teacher training

Schools of Education will be establish to offer new academic programs that meet the professional needs of teacher education, such as teacher educators, administrators, and leadership positions at various levels from elementary, secondary, higher, and technical levels of education.

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Specialized research in teacher education

Within the Pedagogical Schools, specialized research is carried out through various centers in the areas of undergraduate teacher education; teacher educator professional development; curriculum research, policy and educational development; studies and pedagogical studies; disability studies and assessment and evaluation

Pre-school teacher training

Professional development, teacher/faculty continuing education and capacity building

Learning resources development

Inclusive education and special areas

Several workshops/seminars/invited talks shall also be held under this programme. Teachers must constantly improve their teaching skills and learn new teaching techniques in various aspects related to curriculum development, assessment and evaluation, adopting new teaching practices and strengthening ICT.

With the implementation of the program, a new pool of resources will be generated in the various allocated institutions after the preliminary start-up period. The resources generated will be categorized into ICT enabled categories and in other forms such as low cost infrastructure, e-content, course modules etc. through TLC, SBN, centers in SoE. These include ICT-related applications, e-content, teaching resources and assessment tools, software programs are developed in the form of, among others;

electronic set

TPACK Curriculum

mooKIT

FlipKIT

Educational software

open source computing tools like Octave & Python

raspberry pickets,

Attendance application

iChem data,

CNC

Internet of Things (IoT)

Nano science etc.

Within teacher education, there is a focus on special education through developing teachers in Disability Studies. Similarly, a TLC will be established at the different University. The program seeks to cover teacher training in entire nation including tribal areas and educationally backward regions. The North Eastern region, which faces severe constraints in teacher training at all levels, will also be covered through approved centers in the NER.

Subject-based networks(SBN)

Under this scheme, four subject networks were created to develop an electronic network for teachers and researchers in higher education; create a database and develop subject resources for teachers and higher education professionals. The four disciplines/domains are Life Sciences, Ayurveda, Sanskrit and Environmental Microbiology.

Academic leadership

Academic leadership is key to quality improvement. Leadership development includes both academic and administrative functionaries in schools and colleges. A total of about 2,00,000 beneficiaries – senior academic leaders like Vice-Chancellors, Principals, Executives and also senior administrative functionaries like Registrars will be covered through the centres. In addition, around 8,000 target beneficiaries will be covered by March 2025.

Training

The induction program for training faculty and academic staff at e-universities, technical institutions and universities of higher education will introduce them to their role as newly recruited university teachers. It orients them in various general aspects of teaching teaching, teaching methodologies, assessment and evaluation techniques, teaching with ICT and equips them with knowledge of university rules and regulations, basics of management and administration.

Annual Professional Development and Renewal Program in Teaching (APDRPIT)

Denzal Foundation has launched the Annual Refresher Program in Teaching (APDRPIT), a major and unique online professional development initiative for 1.5 million university faculty using MOOCs platform. For the implementation of APDRPIT, field-specific National Resource Centers (NRCs) will be identified in the first phase and will be tasked with preparing online training material focusing on the latest developments in the field, new and emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transactions. revised syllabus. Institutions including ASNMTT, Central Universities, IITs, IIITs, NITs, NITTTR and IGNOU, State Universities, Private Universities, NGOs working in the same field and other organizations will work as NRC. Through APDRPIT, all other teachers, irrespective of their subject and seniority, will be given the opportunity to keep abreast of the latest developments in their fields through online technology-based refresher courses.

Leadership for Academic Affairs Program (LEAP)

LEAP is a three-week leadership development training program (2 weeks domestic and one week overseas training) for second level academic officers in higher education institutions. The main aim is to prepare second level academic heads who are likely to take on leadership roles in the future. The purpose of the LEAP program is to fulfill a long-perceived need to prepare faculty leaders, such as deans, department heads, for future leadership roles as leaders of academic institutions. The program would provide a senior teacher with high academic qualifications, the required leadership and management skills, including problem solving skills, stress management, teamwork, conflict management, development of communication skills, understanding and coping with the complexities and challenges associated with management in Universities, financial and general management.

About Ms. Asheema Singh

Late Asheema Singh, a dedicated educationist, served as a consultant with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). She held the position of Project Coordinator for the Adolescence Education Programme at the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). Her passion lay in equipping young individuals with enhanced problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Renowned for her innovative approach, Asheema Singh spearheaded various initiatives, including 'Face to Face with a Scientist' and the outreach program 'Gyan Jathas,' which brought education to remote schools across India. Notably, she established a Toll-Free IVRS system to provide robust learner support at NIOS. During that time, her focus remained on crafting study materials enriched with life skills and developing training programs for tutors within the NIOS framework.

Addressing critical topics like adolescent rights, gender dynamics, sexual abuse, nutrition, and substance abuse, Asheema was at the forefront of creating inventive strategies to empower youth in effectively tackling these issues. Leveraging her expertise in life skills, she conducted numerous skill-building workshops catering to teachers, counselors, and curriculum developers.

In recognition of her contributions, Asheema Singh held the esteemed position of Vice Chairperson within the Indian Association of Life Skills Education. Additionally, she actively participated as a member of India's National Adolescent Resource Team (NART), further underscoring her commitment to shaping a better future for the younger generation.

This project is a tribute to all the wonderful work done by her in the field of education in her life time, her vision, her aspirations, her unending energy for the betterment of existing education system.