Page 11 - A comprehensive policy

Training Program was launched by the Government of India in which brilliant and
academically oriented B.Tech. graduates who wanted to go in for the academic
profession were selected and provided with an enhanced stipend for doing Master
Degree Programs along with some pedagogical orientation. However, this program
catered to only a handful of prospective teachers and the emphasis on skills and
value orientation was rather limited. The scheme was wound up after being in
operation for about a decade or so.

Around the same time, four training-focused Technical Teacher Training
Institutes (TTTIs) were established primarily targeted towards the training of
polytechnic teachers. These institutes have been actively engaged in training
and development of polytechnic education in all aspects. Lately, these institutes
were renamed as the National Institutes of Technical Teacher Training and
Research (NITTTRs) and are also asked to carry out the training of engineering
college teachers along with polytechnic teachers. These institutes have also
developed the necessary infrastructure and expertise for online modes of
interaction. Further, these institutes have long experience of technical teacher
training, curriculum development, instructional resource development, etc., which
needs to be appropriately harnessed in the future after appropriate revamping
and orientation. Similarly, number of Academic Staff Colleges (ASCs) were
established by the UGC for providing a general orientation and some refresher
programs for the college teachers in general. However, these institutions are not
very active at present, but their infrastructure and expertise can be well-utilized
if properly assimilated in the Comprehensive Training Policy being proposed.

As we are well aware, government agencies like MHRD, AICTE, UGC, etc. do provide
ample support for conducting short-term refresher courses, summer/winter schools
and workshops, etc. intended to improve the quality of technical teachers and also
support the training of teachers in industries and other research institutions but
the programs need more systematic organization and monitoring after which these
would also contribute to the in-service training programs. Needless to emphasize
that we should learn from the experiences gained from earlier initiatives as well as
use the infrastructure created and appropriately assimilate some of these in the
Comprehensive Training Policy being proposed.

3.0 BROAD OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING POLICY

The Committee deliberated in detail on the training needs of teachers in their career and
visualized two distinct categories of the training program:

• Faculty Induction Program (FIP) to be provided just after the recruitment of inductee
teachers.

• In-Service Training Program (ITP)catering to the specific requirement at various
levels of their teaching career.

The Committee proposes the following broad objectives of the Training Policy for inductee
teachers:

• To begin with, clearly demarcate the training needs at different levels of career
and for different categories of teachers, keeping in mind their present status, the

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