MoE’s ambitious SCERT, DIET revamp begins

Srinagar, July 13: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has shifted its focus on strengthening all State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) besides developing District Institute of Educational Training (DIETs) as Centres of Excellence.

The decision was announced during the high-level meeting chaired by the Secretary Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), MoE Sanjay Kumar, on July 9, 2024, in New Delhi.

The Secretary has stated that the SCERT is the key implementing agency at the state level to translate the vision and objectives of the NEP-2020 into actionable strategies and initiatives to improve the quality of school education.

“It is envisioned to develop the SCERT as model centres of innovation and research through provision of aspirational resources in terms of infrastructure, digital technology, curriculum review and development, focus on skill education and collaborative research,” the official document reads.

The MoE has decided to start Google survey of SCERTs developed to assess the current status and address the areas that require strengthening to ensure greater capacities as well as autonomy.

“Till July 9 of 2024, five states filled the Survey Form which include Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Gujarat and Jharkhand. Last date for filling the forms is July 10, 2024,” it reads.

The academicians term the strengthening of SCERT as a welcome step saying that some out of box initiatives are needed to bring reforms in SCERT in Jammu and Kashmir.

“SCERT in J&K is not being utilized to its optimum level. Well trained staff should be posted in SCERT and all the national level initiatives should be taken up in a foolproof manner,” said a senior lecturer wishing not to be named.

Besides strengthening SCERT, the Ministry of Education has decided to develop all 613 functional DIETs across the will and upgrade them into DIETs of excellence.

As per the official document, the exercise will be carried out in a phased manner in next five years through Samagra Shiksha at an estimated cost of Rs 9195 crore.

“The scheme will start approximately with 125 DIETs in financial year 2023-24 with an estimated outlay of Rs 923.20 crores across the country,” the document reads.

Notably, district Budgam and district Kulgam have been selected for developing DIETs as centres of excellence.

Notably, the MoE has already shared the concept note on Empowering of DIETs as Centres of Excellence with the concerned authorities.

In its concept note the MoE has stated that there was a pressing need to ensure that all posts in DIETs are filled and create a cadre of teacher educators could help to retain and nurture academically qualified people who also understand and develop expertise for various activities in education.

“There has been improvement in filling up vacancies in DIETs. However, a lot still needs to be done in this regard as having sufficient manpower in the DIETs is the key to conduct successful programmes,” read the contents of the concept note.

The MoE has decided to share the guidelines on re-envisioning of DIETs as per National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 with all the states and UTs.

“Teachers’ training will be re-envisioned through innovative pedagogy, curriculum transaction, continuous professional development, dipstick surveys, and ICT implementation. The DIETs will be developed as vibrant institutes of excellence for this purpose,” the official document reads.