CBSE scales up teacher training programmes despite pandemic

nNEW DELHI: Even as the Covid-19 epidemic has created hurdles in most teaching-learning activities, there is one aspect where its impact has been rather successfully negated — the training of teachers.

The country’s premier education board — the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) — has, in the past three months, trained over 200,000 teachers, which, according to a senior official, is no less than a record.

“In the past also, the CBSE has actively carried the exercise to train teachers. However, with Covid-19, the entire exercise was moved online. Often in the past, with regular schools on, at times, there were factors that had to be considered regarding the availability of teachers for these training sessions. However, now, there has been a greater reach and the number of teachers trained in latest techniques has crossed two lakhs (200,000) in the April to June period,” said the senior official.

To deal with the changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to keep pace with other countries, the CBSE has been actively trying to modernise the curriculum and its teaching methodologies.

For instance, in July, the board held training for educationists in Augmented Reality, an immersive technology.

According to a circular issued by Biswajit Saha, the CBSE’S director (trainings and skill education), immersive technology, such as Augmented Reality (AR), is going to be one of the most significant technologies of the future.

He said the CBSE will continue to hold training sessions for teachers. In the next phase, the CBSE will introduce AR and digital safety programmes for 30,000 students in each category, Saha said. This month, the board has also launched an online course in experiential learning for teachers.