Rs 15cr central fund to develop district edu training centre

Panaji: The District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) at Porvorim was one among 619 govt-run teacher training institutes across the country in 2023 to be sanctioned central funds of Rs 15 crore for their development into centres of excellence. With the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the DIET is set to see a complete role shift.

A three-storey building will be constructed with the central funding at the same location at Porvorim, and the institute will now have a primary school attached to it. There was no school attached to the DIET until now.

“DIETs of excellence are required to carry out research studies, pilot projects, and identify effective teaching methodologies, educational practices, and strategies for addressing local educational challenges. All this is possible when a school is attached to the institute. The findings from these studies will contribute to evidence-based decision making and overall improvement in the education system in the state,” said an official.

The DIET in the state, which was operating under the directorate of education until now, will now be functioning under the State Council of Educational Research and Training.

“An L-shaped building will be constructed at Porvorim while also upgrading the existing building. The new building will have infrastructure like smart classrooms, different labs, digitised library, and digital content. It will provide technical tools to promote teachers’ professional development,” said the official.

With the recommendations of NEP, the role of DIETs is critical in providing quality pre-service and in-service teacher training to student trainees and in-service teachers.

It is also expected that DIET’s role will be expanded to cover secondary schools as well, instead of only elementary schools at present. This is because NEP 2020 emphasises that all stages of school education will require the highest-quality teachers, and no stage will be considered more important than any other.

“At present, several vacancies are unfilled at the DIET. Nationally, 52% of academic positions in DIETs are vacant. A main requirement for DIETs of excellence is that they fill up all their academic and other posts. It was noticed that DIETs struggle with insufficient funding, which limits their ability to upgrade infrastructure. This leads to a scarcity of teaching aids, learning materials, laboratory instruments and equipment. For this reason, the centre is funding the DIETs of excellence,” the official said.