Odisha govt mulls tie-ups with top universities for online teacher training
BHUBANESWAR: The higher education department is planning to tie up with top universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to conduct online refresher training programmes for state college teachers.
There are about 500 government and aided non-government degree colleges in the state that impart general undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) education in science, humanities and commerce streams. “Although regular refresher training is essential for college teachers to get updated about their subject and pedagogy, it is not possible for most teachers to undergo this training regularly,” said department secretary Saswat Mishra in an official letter issued on Wednesday.
Keeping this in mind, the department is mulling tie-ups with top universities of the country for online refresher courses. Mishra has written to the JNU vice-chancellor requesting him for cooperation. “If you are interested, we can discuss the matter further,” stated the secretary.
According to the terms and conditions of the proposal, refresher training should be imparted by the university online, with features similar to the Union ministry of education’s Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching. This programme should be approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The programme should be conducted by the university exclusively for college teachers of Odisha, in multiple batches of appropriate size. It is not necessary for the university to conduct refresher training programmes in all subjects. It may identify some subjects for the purpose.
Mishra stated this would be a win-win situation for the three stakeholders — the university, college teachers and the Odisha government. The university will generate revenue for itself and the college teachers will get the opportunity of being trained by a top university of the country. Finally, the state government will be able to enhance the quality of higher education by ensuring regular refresher training of college teachers by top universities of the country, he added.