Teachers in Maharashtra will now have to prove their mettle

Now school teachers will have to prove their mettle to be part of an elite team of trainers and resource persons in the state.

For the first time, the state government would be selecting the teacher trainers through a rigorous screening process, where they will be questioned on how they have strived to be different from their counterparts in adopting new teaching methods in classrooms.

This team of 5,000 teachers, picked by experts, will help the state in developing/writing textbooks, teaching modules, etc.

Education department officials from every block in the state, comprising approximately 1,000 teachers, will be short-listing at least 200 suitable candidates from their block. These 200 teachers will then have to answer a questionnaire.

“The questionnaire will be asking teachers to mention the use of innovative methods of teaching in classrooms, steps taken by them to improve the standards of weak students, the kind of remedial training they use, measures they take to increase the attendance of students. We would be also asking them if all students in their class understand what they teach and how they will establish the fact that they are learning and not just attending class,” said Nandkumar, project director, Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad, who is also taking care of several special projects in the state.

After the test, a group of experts from different NGOs, state council of educational research and training (SCERT) and national level education experts will interview the teachers and 25 of them will be selected.

These 25 teachers from several blocks will then form the team of trainers, who would be working with the state government on several academic-related projects.

“They will form the base of trainers in the state. They will be responsible for conducting training programmes with other teachers. These teachers will also be used for writing/developing textbooks, based on the new curriculum framework. They will design teaching modules for the teachers across the state. This is the first time that we are streamlining the whole process of selecting our resource persons, with an aim to create a good workforce,” added Nandkumar.

He further mentioned that the team will be later given intensive training from experts in several fields, subjects. The department will hone their skills and make them more competent in three to four months.

The screening process will begin next week. Earlier, resource persons, writers for textbooks were picked up on the basis of seniority, recommendations of zonal education officers, etc. There were no standard criteria for short-listing trainers.