#HRD Ministry mulls university for teachers’ education

New Delhi, Jun 12 (PTI) To boost the quality of pedagogy, especially at the school level, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry is exploring the possibility of setting up a university for teachers’ education.

The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) is preparing a ‘concept note’ on the establishment of a Teachers’ University on the directions of the HRD Ministry, senior officials told PTI.

Officials said since such institutions existed abroad, it was felt that having a specialised university dealing holistically with aspects related to teachers’ education could help improve teaching standards.

“A panel of experts in the NCERT is already working on the concept note which would examine the requirement of such a University and how it could be established,” sources said.

They said it would be examined whether a new institution is required or one of the existing ones can be converted into a university.

“For instance, there are regional institutes of the NCERT, it may be more feasible to convert one of them into a Teachers’ University. These possibilities would be explored,” they said.

Sources said in another development related to school education, the HRD ministry may also ask the NCERT to create educational content for one of the 32 DTH channels it is planning to launch in a couple of months.

“The NCERT content on education will be beamed right into homes across the country through these DTH channels, it is being planned,” they said.

The HRD ministry is working on a slew of measures to try and raise the standard of school education including a ‘Vidyanjali’ scheme under which retired defence personnel, people from Indian diaspora and women homemakers can volunteer for co-scholastic activities.