Bhubaneswar: Terming it as the largest training programme of its kind in the world for teachers, Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched the National Mission to improve Learning Outcomes at the Elementary level- ‘NISHTHA’.
NISTHA, National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement was launched at Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Official sources said the basic objective of the training programme is to encourage and equip teachers to foster critical thinking in students. Teachers can develop their skills on various aspects related to Learning Outcomes, Competency Based Learning and Testing, Learner-centered Pedagogy, School Safety and Security, Personal-social qualities, Inclusive Education, ICT in teaching-learning including Artificial Intelligence, Health and well-being including yoga, Initiatives in School Education including library, eco club, youth club, kitchen garden, School Leadership qualities, Environmental Concerns, Pre-school, Pre-vocational Education and School Based Assessment in a joyful learning manner.
The union minister informed that this training programme has been included as one of the two transformative ideas of HRD Department for the 100 days programme of the Government. This integrated programme aims to build the capacities of around 42 lakh participants covering all teachers and Heads of Schools at the elementary level in all Government schools, faculty members of State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs), District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) as well as Block Resource Coordinators and Cluster Resource Coordinators in all States and UTs.
A Mobile App and Learning Management System (LMS) based on MOODLE (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) have also been developed by NCERT (https://nishtha.ncert.gov.in/).
LMS will be used for registration of Resource Persons and Teachers, dissemination of resources, training gap and impact analysis, monitoring, mentoring and measuring the progress online.