Question : NISHTHA Programme

(a) whether the Government has launched the Integrated Teachers’ Training
Programme or National Initiative for School Head’s and Teachers’ Holistic
Advancement (NISHTHA);
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the aims and objectives behind this initiative;
(c) whether the Government has fixed any criteria for selecting teachers for training
and the number of teachers enrolled, State/UT-wise;
(d) whether the Government has developed any framework to check the quality of
teachers at school and higher education level and if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the further steps taken by the Government to promote integrated training for the
teachers so as to develop quality education in schools?

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL ''NISHANK'')

(a) to (e): Yes Sir. The Department of School Education and Literacy has launched a
National Mission to improve learning outcomes at the Elementary level through an
Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA – National Initiative for
School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement under the Centrally Sponsored
Scheme of Samagra Shiksha in 2019-20. The aim of this training is to motivate and
equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students, handle diverse
situations and act as first level counsellors. They will be oriented on and develop
their skills on various aspects related to Learning Outcomes, Competency Based
Learning and Testing, Learner-centered Pedagogy, School Safety and Security,
Personal-social qualities, Inclusive Education, ICT in teaching-learning including
Artificial Intelligence, Health and well-being including yoga, Initiatives in School
Education including library, eco club, youth club, kitchen garden, School Leadership
qualities, Environmental Concerns, Pre-school, Pre-vocational Education and School
Based Assessment in a joyful learning manner.
This integrated programme will cover around 42 lakh participants covering all
teachers and Heads of Schools at the elementary level in all Government schools,
faculty members of State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs),
District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) as well as officials and
Resource Persons from Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource Centres
(CRCs) in all States and UTs.
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has been notified as an Academic
Authority under Section 23(1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education (RTE) Act, 2009 to lay down the minimum qualifications required for a
person to be appointed as a teacher. Accordingly the NCTE has notified the
minimum qualifications vide notification dated 25th August, 2010 as amended from
time to time.
This massive capacity building programme has been integrated with technology to
ensure smooth facilitation, availability of digital content and technology enabled
teaching methods to support the teachers. A Mobile App and Learning Management
System (LMS) have been developed by NCERT (https://nishtha.ncert.gov.in/). LMS
is being used for registration of Resource Persons and Teachers, dissemination of
resources, training gap and impact analysis, monitoring, mentoring and measuring
the progress online.

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