NEW DELHI: In a bid to provide quality education to students of Delhi schools and train the teachers, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is taking important steps to restructure the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and The District Institute of Education and Training (DIET).
The restructuring plan is likely to boost employment opportunities for teaching professionals as the government has increased the posts in the SCERT from 509 to 1,295 and from 240 to more than 700 in the DIET as per National Council of Education Research Training (NCERT) standards.
Speaking at a programme on the restructuring of SCERT and DIET, organised on Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “We have increased the posts and salaries in SCERT to instil a sense of respect for the talent that comes into the system. They have been given the UGC-scale pays.” The SCERT has played a crucial role in improving teacher training in Delhi government schools.
“We have to prepare teachers who can inculcate an inquisitive habit in our children and empower them to ask questions in the classrooms. The children should have the courage to demand truth and fill in the gaps of what they have learnt so far.” “Only teachers can transform our society. It is then important to instil the right spirit in our teachers, and we can only achieve this through training the teachers,” Sisodia said.
“Our government is taking important steps to restructure both the SCERT and the DIET. A country’s advancement in education depends only on the efforts of its teachers. This is the case in countries that are lauded for their quality education systems and it is because those countries have focused on developing and training their teachers,” he added.
Sisodia further said the Delhi government focused on teachers’training in the last few years and also increased the posts and salaries in SCERT. Delhi Government has recently launched English language certification programme for teachers in collaboration with the US Embassy. Hundreds of teachers were also sent to countries like Singapore for trainings programmes.
“The teachers have the most important role in giving our children quality education and in determining how the children place themselves in the society eventually. It is the case around the globe too. But for this, good infrastructure, a conducive work environment, competitive salaries, and other facilities are necessary,” he said.
According to sources, the Delhi government will create one teacher training room in every schools and a refresher course will also be started for teachers. The proposal for constructing teacher training room in schools was approved and sanctioned in 2019 by the government. “Delhi is the only state which has increased the pay scale in SCERT and DIET to bring it at par with with the NCERT” he said.