15 lakh ‘untrained’ teachers enroll for HRD programme

NEW DELHI: Close to 15 lakh “untrained” teachers, including over 10 lakh from private schools, have enrolled for a training course by the human resource development (HRD) ministry.

The ministry had earlier announced that “untrained teachers” would have time till 2019 to complete a specifically designed course by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) — Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) — and obtain the required credentials.

The highest number of applications has been received from Bihar with over 2.8 lakh candidates, followed by Uttar Prdaesh (1.95 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (1.91 lakh) and West Bengal (1.69 lakh).

“NIOS has developed the course for upgrading the professional competence and information and communication based capacity building for teachers,” said HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said at course launch.

According to NIOS, 14.97 lakh applications have been received so far. “Among the over 12 lakh untrained teachers, 9.25 lakh are from private schools and 3.53 lakh are employed in government schools,” said CB Sharma, chairman of NIOS.

Explaining the process, a senior official said that the course will be offered through ‘Swayam’, a platform for online education and knowledge through Dish TV. “This is the first time that such high number of applications have been received for an online course,” said Javadekar.

A mobile application has also been developed to help teachers with clarifications.

The course which began on Tuesday, will be spread over four semesters and will have a total of 1,080 lectures available in 10 languages.

An applicant must have scored a minimum of 50% in their class 12 examinations to apply for the course.

“But those who fell short of 50% can give an exam with us and if they score 50% or above they will be eligible ...” Sharma said.

HIGHEST NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM BIHAR WITH OVER 2.8 LAKH CANDIDATES