2-DIETs Potential and Possibilities-Eng

8/6/2019 2-DIETs Potential and Possibilities-Eng

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Gov ern m en t o f In dia The D is tric t Q u ality E d uc atio n P ro je ctIn c olla bo ra tio n w ithM in is try o f H um an R es ou rce D eve lopment, N ew D elh i

D I E T s : P o t e n t i a l a n d P o s s i b i l i t i e sD iscu ssio ns a nd su gg estio ns fo r p olicy a nd p ra ctic e

eme rg in g from a tw o d ay co nsu lta tio nhe ld on 4th and 5 th O cto be r 2 00 7 a t N IA S , B an ga lo re .

2007N atio na l In stitu te o f A dva nc ed S tu die s

IIS c C am pus, B anga lo re 560 012


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C O N T E N T SForewordExecutive summary

I. Introduction 1II. Institutional identity and location

2.1 Autonomy: The fundamental building block.2.2 Need for Institutional Focus: two proposals2.3 Institutional scope: elementary or secondary?2.4 Flexibility in Institutional Structure2.5 Central schemes thrusts and state ownership

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III. Systemic location and relation to other institutions3.1 Non-hierarchical relationship with SCER T3.2 Relationship with other district institutions and fora3.3 Linkage to BRCs and CRCs3.4 Relation to other Centrally sponsored schemes:

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IV. Financial aspects4.1 Urgent need for overall provisioning4.2 Financial planning, autonomy and flexibility4.3 Fiscal governance

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V. People matter5.1 Finding and keeping faculty5.2 Leadership5.3 Approach to Capacity Building of faculty5.4 Nurturing a professional culture

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VI. DIET functions and activities6.1 Professional fora and Resource centers6.2 Preservice Training Activity of DIETs6.3 Inservice teacher profressional development6.4 MRP Development focus6.5. Local Material Development6.6 Monitoring, Planning and Management

18181921232424

VII Collaborations: why and how7.1 Models for collaboration7.2 Policy Frameworks for Collaborations7.3 Operationalising 'partnership' on equal terms

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AbbreviationsReferencesAppendix A - ParticipantsAppendix B - Programme

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F O R E W O R D

This document shares key ideas, concepts, concerns and recommendations that arose from a two dayConsultation, D IET s: P o te nti al a nd P o ss ib ili ti es held by the District Quality Education Project (DQEP)of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore in collaboration with the Ministry of HumanResource Development, New Delhi.Starting in December 2002, the DQEP was involved with several initiatives to strengthen quality ofelementary schooling in Chamarajanagar District, in particular, direct intervention in 28 schools,curriculum development for Kannada and art, and capacity building and improving teacher trainingquality by working with the Cluster Resource Persons and Block Resource Centres. In 2005, in thecontext of a new DIET being established in the District (Chamarajanagar being a district carved out ofMysore in 1997 did not have its own DIET), the DQEP proposed to the DSERT, Karnataka, acollaboration to strengthen the upcoming DIET in Chamarajanagar for the period December 2005 toNovember 2007. During the entire project period, the DQEP worked closely with the state educationdepartment atthe state and district levels.We take this opportunity to place on record our sincere gratitude to all the officials and functionaries atvarious levels ofthe government schooling system. Our appreciation of the support from the educationdepartment extends to both the incumbents and those who have since retired or moved to other placesand departments atthe state level and in the district.The DQEP sought to build synergy in its work through meaningful collaborations with differentinstitutions and individuals. Such support has taken various forms: consultancy on pedagogic issues,presence as key resource persons, support on documentation (print and visual), etc. We thank allinstitutions and individuals thus associated with our work for the last fiveyears.We also acknowledge our colleagues in the DQEP team and Dr. Seshadri asa reviewer for SRTT, all ofwhom have been inextricably linked in various capacities with the project's reflective and criticalengagement with the DIET.These two years of work in the DIET and with other institutions within the ambit of which the DIET'severyday work is generally carried out, gave us several occasions to think about the (un)utilizedpotential of these important district institutions and also alerted us to the importance of reviving andconverging the interests and concerns in renewing these institutions. We thank Dr. Govinda, NUEP Aand Ms. Anita Kaul, MHRD, for readily agreeing to work closely with usto conceptualise and organizethe two day consultation. We thank Mr. Champak Chatterjee, Secretary Education, MHRD foraccepting our proposal to collaboratively host this consultation, and also extending support for travel ofparticipants. We thank the participants for accepting our invitation and contributing richly to thedeliberations of the two days. The coordination and logistics were ably managed by Ms. J ayanthiSachitanand and Ms. Sumana Srikanth, and we are greateful to them, and the staff at NIAS who ensuredthe programme ran smoothly.Our work in the DIET Chamarajanagar, including this consultation, has been primarily supported bythe Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai. Asha for Education, Boston Chapter provided additional support forour work in the Block Resource Centres and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Karnataka supported thedevelopment ofthe Training Management System.N.RamkumarPrakash KamathShivaKumarD.RahulMukhopadhyayPadmaG.T.Padma M. Sarangapani

November 2007


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E X E C U T IV E S U M M A R YThe District Institutes of Education and Training are positioned to playa key role inuniversalizing quality education. This document provides a set of ideas and discussionswith which future policies and work pertaining to DIETs may engage. The discussionsprovided are not meant to be read as prescriptive, but as suggestive and indicative ofcourses of actions, decisions and policy-thrusts. There are alternatives possible in manyaspects of the DIET itself, and its relationship with other state institutions. Carefulconsideration of the implications of various choices is required in virtually every detailand dimension.The most fundamental concern for the DIETs is that of a clear institutional identity inwhich teachers are brought centre stage. There are two distinct possibilities: (1)DIETs asengaged in the task of school improvement, or (2)DIETs asengaged in the role of teacherdevelopment. While the former implies amore direct field engagement mode, the latter ismore oriented to work with teacher education and teacher-support, rather than directengagement with schools. Both these positions are valid and the choice will need to bemade based on the requirements of each state and its overall educational reform vision.The same could be said of whether this institution should remain focused on elementaryeducation alone, or it should extend its interests to secondary education also.A second issue that has direct bearing on the above is the DIET-BRC-CRC linkage. Thechoice of institutional identity would provide the framework for connecting the DIET tothe sub-district structures such asthe BRC-CRC. Either these latter structures could be anextension of the DIET itself, or be monitored and mentored by the DIET without itsdirect physical presence within these structures.A core requirement, which emerges as an essential and non negotiable, isfor the DIET toemerge as an autonomous institution at the district level with flexibility to function andbe structured to meet district-specific needs. Hence variation among DIETs would bedesirable. Both MHRD norms and SCERT relationship to the DIET will need to supportsuch an institutional change. There are several gaps in the approach of the Centre vis-a-visthe states to various DIET related matters and these need to be addressed.The DIET's isolation at the district level isagain amatter of concern and there isneed for acomprehensive district level education plan that can provide a framework for overallcoordination and convergence across institutions and lines of reporting. This wouldstrengthen the EMISsystem atthe district level and also feed into bottom up planning andoverall departmental planning and budgeting.The primary activity of the DIETs-teacher training-and capacity building of resourcepersons to conduct decentralized training and adapt training designs to meet districtneeds, require investment in new ideas and resources. 'In-service training' itself must beopened up to include more diverse activities and avenues for professional development,including seminars, debates, cross-institutional deployment of teachers, and teacher-fellowships.Personnel recruitment requires state-level policy interventions which are consistent withthe role that the DIET is expected to play. Opening up recruitment to allow more facultyrenewal through cross-deployment across universities/NGOsl research institutions, and


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personnel movement acrossDIETs based on professional merit (rather than transfers) aretwo important possibilities worth considering. Policies on the role, recruitment, tenure,and autonomy for DIET principals are also key in realizing afunctional institution with adistinct identity.Institutional revitalization can be facilitated through different collaborative arrangementsbetween the government, the private sector, and civil society organizations, with DIETsand alsobetween DIETs aswell aswith other institutions at the sub-district level. There isalso need for such collaborations to be mainstreamed into the working of the educationsystem and therefore need for a policy framework that could both underwrite suchcollaborations and could enable the systemic integration of positive experiences fromsuch partnerships.


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. .,)

: :

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The discussions ofthe consultation were organized around six thematic areas.Theme 1:Academic Role and Functions ofDIETsTheme 2:Central and State frameworksTheme 3:DIETs in relation to State structures and requirementsTheme 4:Teacher Professional DevelopmentTheme 5:Institutional DevelopmentTheme 6:PartnershipsIn this document we bring together the key ideas that emerged from the consultationenhanced with ideas and information from secondary literature on DIETs, especiallythose that suggest key ways in which these institutions can be made more effective, andthose that have been tried out and found to be useful. This may contribute to policyinitiatives directed towards enhancing the functionality and effectiveness of theseinstitutions.E ve n to da y, if we wa nt to e vo lv e a sy ste mic a pp ro ac h to e nsu re u niv ersa l e du ca tio n o f a q ua lityth at is re fle cte d in th e N atio na l C urric ulum F ramewo rk 2005, th e id ea o f th e D lET con tin ue sto be central - now D IE T, taken along w ith the BR Cand CR Cstru ctu re . A c ad em ic re fo rm o fsc ho ol e du ca tio n, a ca demic su pp ort to te ac he rs a nd sc ho ols, a ll th ese re qu ir e stro ng a ca demiccapab il it y and l eader sh ip i n a rea s o f t ra in ing , p lanni ng , r es ea rchand mon it or ing /s upe rv is iona t mo re lo ca liz ed le ve ls , th e d is tr ic t b ein g th e fir st k ey d ec en tr aliz ed le ve l o f th is wo rk . T he ideath at a n in stitu tio n lik e th eD I ET , w ith a n a ca demic ra th er th an a dm in istra tiv e fo cu s, is n ee de da t t he d is tr ic t l ev el t o s tr eng then s choo l educat ion i s st il l c onv inc ing .

Some of the key reasonsfor overall 'dysfunctionality'1. Lack o f alignment of D IET vision and D IET w ings w ith Sta te education policy thrusts, and Sta te

ins ti tu tiona l s truc tures .2 . L ac k o ff oc us in i ts b as ic i n sti tu tio na l o bje cti ve a nd c on st it ue nc y.3 . N on -a va ila bility o ffa cu lty w ith a de qu ate tra in in g in ele me nta ry ed uca tio n: g en era l la ck o f e x pertise ev en

in a re as su ch a s te ac he r ed uca tio n, e le men ta ry e du ca tio n o r res ea rc h.4 . L ac k o f stro ng le ad ersh ip in D IE Ts.5 . Ove ra ll lo w d es ir ef or th e p os tin g ( be in g a c ad em ic r ath er th an a dm in is tr ati ve ) a nd fr eq ue nt t ra ns fe rs o ut o f

D IET s r es ul ti ng i n h ig h t ur n- ov er a nd v ac an t p os ts .6 . O ve ra ll s ys te m ic w ea kn es s i n a dm in is tr ati on a ls o a ff ec ts t heD IE T.7 . A lth ou gh c en tra l fu nd in gfo r D IE Ts h as c on tin ue d in th e X th p la n p erio d a nd is n o w b ein g c on sid ere d in th e

X I p la n a ls o, t he re h a s a lwa ys b ee n i nd ec is io n r eg a rd in g t he c o nt in u at io n o f c e n tr al s up p or t


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II. IN ST ITU TIO NA L ID EN TITY A ND L OC A TIO N

2.1 AUTONOMY: THE FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKE ac h D IE T must acquire independent 'institutional' identity and character with a focuson academic excellence. Each DIET must be treated as a unique, independent institution,and not as one among many implementing arms of the State at the district level. This couldbe done

( i)

(iii)

(ii)By evolving clarity on the role that DIET is expected to play within thelarger State Education Machinery.By providing adequate foundation for the development of an Institutionincluding: provision of infrastructure suitable to the scope of the institution as a

District Training and Resource Institution. appointment of principal through selection with adequate tenure

and autonomy to develop the institution. provision of dedicated faculty of requisite/desired numbers. provision of field support faculty and administrative staff of

requisite/desired numbers.By enabling each DIET to develop its own character and focus areasthrough support for an environment of autonomy in academic areas,financial areas, and personnel policyBy permitting and even encouraging institutional variation amongDIETs and with only a few large-scale centrally designed programmes tobe monitored.

(iv)

2.2 NEED FOR INSTITUTIONAL FOCUS: TWO PROPOSALSThe prevailing DIET design visualises multiple tasks with different foci, and draws theDIET in different directions - in effect producing divergent institutional goals. Instead, theDIET requires an overall focus area which would form its ' ra i son d 'et re ' based on which itslarger role in the landscape of educational practice can take shape. This would also enablethe DIET to converge its various activities or plans, design its own annual work plan, andbuild necessary linkages with other organizations in collaborative modes. T he fo cu s m ust b eto b rin g te ac he rs b ac k to th e c en tr e s ta ge o f e du ca tio n. A core area of strength of the DIET isteacher professional development, particularly the pre-service and in-service trainingwork. Renewal of elementary schools is a larger focus area of state concern, action andinnovation. Either ofthese could form the basis ofthe institution's focus:

I n f av ou r o f a f oc us o n T ea ch er P ro fe ss io na l D e ve lom en tThe area of teacher professional development is a core area of strength of the DIET wheremost DIETs have a reasonable track record. Thus, this is the area that should be furtherstrengthened and developed. DIETs must therefore develop into institutions of excellencefor teacher education at the District level, for both in-service and for pre-service. For ahigh quality teacher education programme, engagement with schools and the concern forschool improvement is necessary. Keeping a focus on teacher professional developmentwill provide the institution with the necessary focus. By allowing it to perform in an areawhere it can show success and results, much needed positive sense of achievement will alsobe gained that would directly enhance the overall institutional development.

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Ifschool improvement ismade the primary focus area, it would stretch the DIET beyondits current expertise and capacity and will require it to enter into an 'implementationist'mode, aligning it closer to government work and administration.I n f av ou r o f a f oc us o n S chool Impr ov em ent.School improvement asan area of primary engagement will provide much needed overallinstitutional focus and direction. It can provide the context and measure for thedevelopment of many kinds of institutional activities; in-service teacher education,children assessment, material development, innovation and intervention and researchwill all receive focused attention. This will make surethat the institution does not becomeisolated from and irrelevant to the larger life of educational practice and schools. Teachereducation will and should be an important facet of school improvement, but it needs toseek its design and justification in relation to the larger agenda of school improvement.Indeed ifteacher education in the form oftrainings isnot felt to benecessary, and instead aschool based mentoring and a teacher professional network is felt to be more relevant,then there should be no necessity to continue the in-service teacher educationprogrammes.

Institutions where teacher education isthe primary activity tend to become isolated fromthe larger scheme of educational activity and sink into routinised theoretical activitywithout the reality checks oflife in school.

Delhi DIETs experience of UEE as Institutional FocusThe SCERT along with all the DIETs in Delhi, organized a threeday intensive reflection exercise to evolve a mandate that wouldprovide DIETs with afocus. All thefaculty including principals,were involved in this exercise, and each participant was provided acopy of the 1989 DIET guidelines for reflection. Consensusemerged around the need to focus on Universalising ElementaryEducation (UEE) and the activities of theDIET then drewfrom thisagreed upon mandate, providing both focus and also providing abasis to negotiate between complementing roles of differentinstitutions, including requirements from the administrativestructure of the Department of Education of Delhi State, andrelationship to the schools, and also the relationship between eachother and to the SCERT. As the DIETs aligned their activities withthe larger State efforts towards UEE, they were able to identifytheir own specific contribution areas. Later, on account of the spurtin enrollments, there was a requirement for extra teachers. At thispoint the DIETs' pre-service teacher education programmes wereable to contribute, by placing their trainee teachers as interns(additional teachers) in the schools, .Having afocus and a mandate, which has been evolved throughwidespread participation of all faculty, can provide direction andalignment of activities towards larger educational policyobjectives and in relation to other educational institutions, as wellas the administration.

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2.3 INSTITUTIONAL SCOPE:ELEMENTARYOR SECONDARY?Currently the DIET's focus iselementary education. The Colleges ofTeacher Education and 'lASEs' weresupposed to address the needs ofsecondary school teacher professionaldevelopment and curriculum work.'Whether DIETs should retain theirfocus on elementary schools or theyshould extend their scope to secondaryschool also' is a question that wouldinfluence the institutional focus andscope.In favour of retaining focus onElementary EducationDIETs can support the much neededprofessionalisation of elementaryeducation through pre-service and in-service work as well as research andinnovation in areas of relevance toelementary education.If secondary education entered into theDIETs it would:


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assume more importance and relegate elementary education again to a marginalstatus (or elsepush it down to the block level).

make new demands on expertise and capabilities, especially in relation to theacademic disciplines, which cannot befound in DIETs.

DIETs should retain and strengthen their elementary education focus and not bedistractedby secondary education training etc. which has in any casereceived substantial attention.The CTEs, lASEs, andUniversity Departments arebetter positioned to do this.In fa vo ur o f e xten din g th e in stitutio n's m an da te to in clu de Seco nd ary E du ca tio nAs a government institution at the district level, this institute should parallel the structureof school education and extend its mandate to all levels, from pre-primary to secondaryeducation. This would provide the institutional arrangement for the systematic academicsupport, monitoring and review for quality required at all the levels of schooling. Theabsence of district specific institutions to academically complement the district educationadministration and the elected representatives in the district, who are concerned with alllevels of schooling, creates structural problems. The DIET could continue to retain itsspecial mandate for elementary education, and ensure that the necessaryprofessionalisation of this stage of schooling remains high on its agenda throughappropriate funding support and special academic activities in this area. But, in addition, itcould take on planning, review, monitoring and research activities in relation tosecondary school education.A strong case can also be made for the need to include pre-school education also withinDIET, and with it to bring in issues of professional development of the balwadis oranganwadis, aswell asmonitoring the curricula and activities ofthese centres.

2.4 FLEXIBILITY IN INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURERather than having the institutional structure being adjusted to the work of DIETs, thenecessary structure of the Institution needs to flow out of the Institution's vision,mandate and its relationship to other institutions. Thus, the 'wings' or 'units' of the DIETneed to be flexible arrangements that can be changed depending on the activities on handand therefore effect an organizational structure that would most suit aparticular DIET.Many states have not made alterations in the DIET structure on the grounds that this is (a)not permissible by the MHRD, or (b ) it would not work as the financial norms andguidelines are based on the 'pink book' recommendations. Both these points of view needto change. The pink book is only a manual of guidelines and ea ch sta te is free to reth in ka nd p ro po se m od els th at w ou ld su it its sta te sp ecific itie s o r re qu ire me nts. Wings could bemerged or even removed ifthey are not found to beuseful. People and activities within theDIET may also be organized on different principles. Effective DIET principals havechanged the internal organization of the DIET to suit work on hand, rather than definingwork based on the 'wing names'.Some states have opted to work within the 'pink book' format for the structure of wingsand wing-wise distribution of faculty, by allocating responsibilities as per requirementsand continuing with the 'official' wing name. There has not even been a reallocation ofnumber of faculty in each wing based on actual activities, or any variation attempted inthe personnel strength of DIET based on considerations of size of the district, etc. On thewhole there seems to bea strong inertia on the part of the states towards flexibility.

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Flexibility of the Institutional structure would be necessary so that the internalorganization of the DIET could follow from the concerns of both personnel and theirqualifications/ areas of expertise, and the activities that derive from the specific DIET'smandate as an autonomous institutional body. Focus on district specific needs and issueswould also bepossible with such flexibility. E.g. aWing to focus on education of childrenwhose parents migrate seasonally, or a wing to focus on concerns of educating childrenfrom tribal communities .The Centre can be approached with such alternative plans supported by a rationale andthe same be accepted and form the basis of the central grant for support of individualDIETs.

2.5 CENTRAL SCHEMES THRUSTS AND STATE OWNERSHIPThe DIET scheme is a central scheme, with budget provisioning from the Central planand with the expectation that States will 'own', realize and implement the vision. The'dysfunctionality' of DIETs in most states suggests that there may be problems with this

approach.

Flexibility in Institutional StructuresI n A n dh ra P ra de sh t he D IET p er so nn el a re s el ec te d an d o rg an iz ed a cc or din gto t he k ey s ub je ct a re as o f t he s ch oo l l an gu ag e, m a th em a ti cs , s ci en ce , s o ci als tu di es , a r t, t he at re e tc . A ll o f t hem c on tr ib ut e to th e d iff er en t a ct iv iti es o f t heD IE T: p re -se rv ic e te ac he r e du ca tio n, in -se rv ic e tra in in g p ro gra mme s,c u rr ic u lum ma t er ia l d e ve lo pmen t, a ss es sme n t, e tc .In M ah ara sh tra , D IE Ts h ave o nly fo ur w in gs: P re-se rvice a nd In -serviceT ea ch er E du ca tio n, C ur ric ulu m M ate ria l D e ve lo pm en t a nd E va lu atio n,E d u ca ti on T e ch n ol og y , a n d P l an n in g Manag emen t a n dAdm in is tr at io n .In Madhya P radesh , the D IET w ings include: In -service and F ie ldI n te ra c ti on ; D i st ri ct R e so u rc e Un it ; P &M; Inn o va ti on c o -o rd in a ti on ; Ma ssM edia and E ducation T echnology; W ork E xperience ; C urricu lum andL ea rn in g M ate ria l D ev elo pm en t; M eth od s a nd E va lu atio n; E du ca tio n fo rQ ua lity ; A ca de mic C on su lta nc y a nd G uid an ce ; P hy sic al E du ca tio n; A rtandAe sth et ic Expe ri enc e Educa tion .In th e B ika ner D IE T, d urin g L ok Ju mb ish , th e P rin cip al fo un d th at a 'w in gw ise ' approach to teacher tra in ing led to the absence o f an overa llc on ve rg en ce o f a pp ro ac h a nd tr ain in g g oa ls a s w ell a s p ro be ms in s im p le rm atters su ch a s m an ag in g tra in in g. T ra in in g qu ality im prov ed w hen th e'w in g id en titie s' o f p e op le a nd 'w in g- ba se d g oa ls' w ere su sp en de d a nd th ee nt ir e f ac ul ty f oc us ed to ge th er a t t he i ns ti tu ti on al l ev el o n c on ce pt ua lis in ga nd im p lem en ti ng t ra in in g.I n K arn ata ka , th e D is tric t R eso urc e U nit h as b ee n m erg ed w ith th e D i stric tL ite racy Sam ith i and the 'W ork E xperience' un it has been rep laced by'Q u al it y C e ll ', t o w o rk c lo se ly w i th th e S ta te 's Qu al it y A ss es sm e nt s ys te m s.A s a p art o f th e N IA S-D SE R T co lla bora tio n, th e D IE T C ha ma ra ja nag arin tr od uc ed a 'T ri ba l C h il dr en 's E d uc ati on W in g' a s a D is tr ic t s pe ci fic n ee d,a nd a 'R es ou rc e C e ntr e' u nd er t heD i st ri ct R e so ur ce Un it .

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Although DIETs haveconsistently been supportedthrough central plan budgets foralmost 17 years now, theCentre's involvement has beenrestricted to providing the fund,leaving implementation entirelyto the states, with no centralmonitoring or auditing ofeffectiveness of this grant.Virtually no variation in theproposed structure of the 'pinkbook' is seen from any state.About Rupees 18 lakhs perDIET is available as centralgrant towards supportingactivities, and this is generallydisbursed on a pro-rata basis toDIET, without reflectingDistrict specific budgetrequirements. Reading of the'pink book' as a document offixed norms seems to have led toa situation of stereotyped DIETsand stereotyped plans. So farthere has been no demand fromany state for flexibility. Thereseems to be differentperspectives of the Centre andthe State vis a vis the scheme,and neither seems to fully 'own'the DIET scheme.


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Centre's point of view State's point of viewY C entrally sponsored schem es are frequently not

owned by the sta tes; In the case of D IE Ts, w ithfew exceptions, states have not taken muchresponsib ility for D IETs nor integrated themin to th eir e du ca tio n s ys te ms .

Y The sta tes tend to mainta in the overallaccountability o f D IET towards the Centrerather than towards itself, and farther th is isfurther oriented towards financiala cc ou nta bility o nly .

y States have used a m echanical 'pro-ra ta ' basis o fdisbursingfund to all D IETs (maximum of 18lakhs per D IET), regardless of whether thed is tr ic t is la rg e o r s ma ll.

y The Centre, although it has provided thefunding , does not monitor or audit thee ffe ct iv en es s o f t he se in st it ut io ns . It h as u rg edsta tes to create a cadre of professionals for theD IET, but the funding is not tied to meetingsuch requirements. The only accountability toth e C en tre isfo r th e fu nds th at it p ro vid es.

y States do not enhance the centra l D IET budgeta llocation w ith any funds of their ow n.

y Earlier NCER T and N IEPA ran courses forcapacity build ing of D IET faculty, but theseh ave b ee n d isco ntin ued b as ed o n th e re aliza tio nthat the faculty o f D IETS are not stable and arefre qu en tly tra nsfer red o ut.

Y A lth ou gh D IE T s up po rt h as b ee n e xte nd ed fo r 3 planp e ri od s , s ta te s a r e n o t a s su r ed o f c o nt in u at io n o ff un d sfo r D IE Ts. G iv en th e fisca l situ atio n of m os t sta tesa nd u nc er ta in ty , it is d iffic ult to p la n a ss um in g th att h ese in s t it u ti ons a repermanen t .

Y S ta te s e xp er ie nc e i rr eg ul ar f lo w o f fu nd s ( de la ys ) a n da ls o s p o ra dic u ti lis at io n a nd m a na gem en t o f fu nd s a tt h eD i s t ri c t l e ve l .

Y Deviation from the 'p ink book ' norm s createsp ro bl em s a nd d el ay s in g ett in g a cc ou nts p as se d; h e n ceth e p re fe re nc e to w or k w ith in th e p re sc rib ed n or msand s t ruc tu re s.

Y Th e o n ly r ela ti on sh ip b etw e en t he c en tr e a nd t he s ta te ,r eg ar din g th eD IET , i sfo r t he p u rp os es o f b ud ge ts a nda cc ou ntin g. T he C en tr e h as p r om ote d th e s ch em e b uthas not taken any in terest in ensuring that th isi ns ti tu tio n p la ys a s ig ni fi ca nt r ol e i n a ch ie vi ng VEE .

Y Th e C e ntr al a ll oc ati on s a re n ot s uf fic ie nt t o b ui ld u pt he i nf ra s tr u ct ur e t ha t s u ch a n i ns ti tu ti on r e qu ir e s.

The Centre can support and facilitate states in thinking about state specificity in DIETplans and structures. such mechanism could be requiring states to develop aMemorandum of Understanding indicating how they wish to vision this institution inrelation to the rest of their structures and the role they want this institution to play, toenable more focus on institutional functions and staffing.In the context of continued support for DIETs in the 11th plan, it is imperative that theCentre adopt amore pro-active role towards this institution.In the area of Teacher Education, the 11thplan proposes a centrally constituted academicadvisory group to support teacher education and tofocus on the development of elementaryeducation. This isto:

Strengthen the quality of pre-service training, respond to the crisis of para-teachers, and develop a cadre of local teachers for SC, ST, and minoritycommunities through block level teacher education institutes.

Strengthen the quality of in-service programmes through the design of a largernumber and variety of in-service courses and enable teachers to choose (thecafeteria model), and alsothrough appropriate use ofICT.

Support the professional development of teacher educators through refreshercourses for faculty and also fellowships.

Strengthen institutional capacity to engage with locally relevant materials.Involve both Universities and NGOs, particularly in the area of developingrelevant TLM design and teacher training activities. 7


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Som e of the key issues to w hich the 11'h P lan h as tried to respon d* T he re h as b ee n n o p ro pe r a rra ng em en t fo r rec ru itin g fa cu lty tra in ed in E lem en ta ryEducation.

M os t D IE T f ac ul ty p os itio ns a re f ill ed by p er so nn el o n d ep uta tio n c re at in g a h an dic apfo r cont inued p rofes siona l l ea rn ing by the teacher educa tors ;E xp ansion of the elem entary educa tio n system ha s resulted in a rb itrary increase inin ta ke fo r th e pre-serv ic e c ou rses; t he in ta ke in m an y D IE Ts h as b een d ou bled in m an ystates;T he p ro ble m h as b ee n c omp ou nd ed by t he ma ss -s ca le r ec ru itm en t o f p ar a- te ac he rs i ns ev er al s ta te s; c on se qu en tl y, p re -s er vi ce t ra in in g i n s ev er al s ta te s h as b ee n s us pe nd ed i norder to accom modate para teachers' training. The XI P lan seeks to correct thisimba la n ce t hr ou g h a t im e -b o un d p a ck ag e d ir ec te d a t s pe ci fi c s ta te s.T h er e h a s b ee n a ma ss iv e i nc re as e i n t he n umb er o fp ri va te t ea ch er t ra in in g i ns ti tu ti on s,creating an im balance in favour of urban areas in the spread of teacher trainingf ac ili tie s; i n p art ic ula r, t hi s h as a ff ec te d a cc ess o f p e rs on s f rom ma rg in al iz ed g ro up s i nt he r el at iv el y mo re r ur al a n d r emo te a re as t o t ea ch er e du ca ti on .D IE T S h av e r em a in ed is ola te d fr om c ur re nt re se ar ch a n d th e a c ad em ic c ommun ity d uet o t he a bs en ce o f l in ka ge s w i th i ns ti tu te s o f h i gh er e du ca ti on .

T h er e i s u rg en t n ee d fo r a ll s ta te s t o:(1) E nric h a nd su sta in ex istin g sta te su pp orted in stitu tio ns fo r T ea ch er E du ca tio n a nd

i nc re as e th e n umb er o f su ch i ns ti tu tio ns in r em o te a nd b ac kw ar d lo ca li ti es , i n o rd er tom ee t t he e xp an di ng n ee d fo r tr ai ne d te ac he rs a nd f or m a ki ng t he s ys te m mo re e qu it ab le .

(2) Upgr ad e i n a p h as ed mann er e lemen ta ry t ea ch er e du ca ti on p ro gr amme by e nh a nc in g i tsstatus in th e acad em ic hierarchy a nd creating app ro priate linkages w ith the highereduca tion s ys tem .


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III. S YS TE M IC LO CA TIO N A ND R ELA TIO NT O O TH E R IN S TIT UT IO N S

T he o ve ra ll I ns titu tio na l fo cu s o fD IETs n ee ds to b e lo ca te d w ith in , a nd c omp lem en t th e fo cu sa nd fu nc tio n o f o th er in stitu tio ns o f th e sta te e du ca tio n sy ste m. A t th e d istric t le ve l it n ee ds tow ork w ith th e o th er d istric t in stitu tio ns w ith in th e fra mewo rk o f a D istric t E du ca tio n P la na n d a d is tr ic t w id e d at a- ba se ( Ed uca ti on Mana g emen t I nf ormat io n S ys tem ) o n ed ucat io n.3.1 NON-HIERARCHICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH SCERTDIETs are directly administered by the SCERTs. Currently most of the work of DIETsflows out of the SCERT.

In order to promote institutional autonomy at the level of the DIET itself, theSCERTs will need to move away from a hierarchical relationship to DIETs andplaya supportive and facilitative role to nurture and promote autonomy andindividuality ofDIETs.

The SCERT could provide a professional forum for the community to cometogether to review the status of quality of schools and various interventionprogrammes, for DIET principals regarding institutional development, and inDIET faculty to interact with each other, share knowledge, and experience.

The SCERTs could focus on providing expert guidance and support to thevarious academic activities of the DIET; in particular relating to research,designing special intervention programmes, developing locally relevantmaterials, and designing reflexive in-service teacher professional developmentprogrammes. It could also focus on overall institutional development andmeeting the various professional development needs of faculty themselves.

There will need to be fewer SCER T driven programmes or trainingdesigns/modules provided to the DIETs and more space and scope for DIETdefined activities.

DIETs could have asimilar relationship to SIEMATs also.

3.2 RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER DISTRICTINSTITUTIONS AND FORADIETs have tended to remain insular and insulated from key sites of education decision-making and activity at the district level. Partly, this is a problem of all teacher educationinstitutions where the entry-point degrees themselves create isolation from largeracademia. But this is also on account of the perception of 'dysfunctionality' of the DIETand its peripheral location within the Education system.

It is necessary for DIETs to break this insularity and enter into active relationships withother district level institutions and fora that are contributing to and shaping elementaryeducation and children's all round development.In Kerala, the district education wing ofthe Zilla Parishad (ZP) callsupon the DIETs. Thisinvolvement of the ZP in matters relating especially to elementary education is likely togrow in all states and the DIETs need to begin to interact formally with ZP, particularlyon matters pertaining to education quality.

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. .Many issuesof elementary education quality also require an inter-departmental approach .Particularly the Departments of Social Welfare, Tribal Welfare, Minority Education,Women and Child, Health, Sports and Youth are relevant Government Departmentswith whom DIET interaction ispossible and necessary. This would bring about synergiesand better-coordinated contributions to schools and children.: :

:. .

;))

t ~ ~-

Given its focus on teacher and teacher development, formal linkages with district teacherassociations, centers for teacher development such as B.Ed and D.Ed colleges, andUniversity Department ofEducation, would alsobe necessary for DIETs .

District Resources and NetworkingIn G uja ra t, e ac h D IE T w as e nc ou ra ge d to u nd erta ke a c as e stu dyo f its elf, a nd in th is s tu dy to in vo lv e fa cu lty fro m lo ca l e du ca tio nc ol le ge s a n d d ep ar tm e nt s. T h is h as l ed t o i nc re as ed i nt er ac tio nsbetw een these tw o institu tiona l structures and opened up thep o ss ib il it y o f mo r e i nt er a ct io n s f or a v a ri et y o f a c a dem ic a c ti vi ti es ,f rom r es ea rc h to i nn o va ti ve i nt er ve n ti on p r og ramme s.I n A n dh ra P ra de sh D IET s, t he fo ra fo rC h il dR ig ht s a t t heD i s tr ic tlevel w as see n to b e a sp ace w h ere a g rea t d ea l o f in no va tive a ndcrea tive th inking and work was go ing on which is o f d irectre levance to im prov ing elem entary educa tion . B y form allyi nv ol vi ng i n t he sef or a, D IET f ac ul ty b en ef it ed a nd w e re a ls o a b leto con tr ibu te .

Several other National and sometimes alsoInternational agencies, and NonGovernment Organisations working onissues such as 'Child Labour', 'Children'srights', disabilities, etc., also increasinglyhave a District presence and the formalinteraction of these institutions andagencies at the district level wouldmutually benefit these organizations andtheir work, and also avoid unnecessaryduplication or working at cross purposes.Coming into active collaborative linkageswith district institutions of highereducation would also enhance theacademic aspects ofDIET work.

3.3 LINKAGE TO BRCs AND CRCsThere are differing views regarding the extent to which DIETs should become linked toBlock Resource Center (BRe) and Cluster Resource Center (CRe) structures.In fa vo ur o f a d irect stro ng lin ka ge:The linkage isnecessary and it should alsobedirect and strong; i.e. through administrativelinkage so that salaries related to BRCs and CRCs is controlled by DIETs and they in turnreport to the DIET. This is necessary to bring about alignment of academic institutionsand to ensure that overall plans for school quality improvement are conceptualized andimplemented by the DIETs through the BRCs and CRCs. The academic work of theBRCs and CRCs, which today is mainly training, teacher meetings and school-basedsupport through visits, thus needs to be planned for by, and also monitored and reviewedby the DIETs.In fa vo ur o f a p ro fe ssio na l m en to r lin ka ge :DIETs should take responsibility for the academic capacity building of faculty of BRCsand CRCs to enable them to play this role. This capacity building is needed in areas suchas:

Awareness of approaches on teacher professional development and schoolimprovement.

Skills related to training design, training implementation, and awareness of'training efficacy', including managing information relating to training, etc.

Knowledge and awareness of mentoring.

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The DIET may also provide a professional forum for meeting and discussing academicissues and concerns of the BRCs and CRCs and in addition also assist in reviewing plansetc. But the BRCs and CRCs will not be an extension of the DIET into the Blocks andClusters.In favou r of n o fo rm al linkag e:The DIET need not be directly concernedwith, or involved with the BRCs and CRCs.They are institutions created for a differentpurpose. The issues and problems of theseinstitutions are separate and need not beadded to the burden of the DIET's owninstitutional problems. The DIET iscurrently also not capable of working withsuch institutions, so adding them to theDIET as responsibilities and appendageswould burden the DIET and distract it fromthe core function of teacher education,which it can execute meaningfully. It musttherefore focus on teacher education andnot be burdened with work orresponsibilities relating to the BRCs andCRCs.

Will financial control ofERCs, CRCs pave the way formore institutional alignment?

Currently, there is a move to route SSAfundingfor trainingto the BRCs and CRCs, through the DIET. There is also ademand that reporting structures of the BRCs and CRCsshould be aligned with the DIET, primarily by routing thesalaries of these personnel through the DIET. Such.financialarrangements will not have any impact on academicintegration, and may only increase the administrativeburden on the institution. Institutional vision and leadershipmay be more important.

3.4 RELAnON TO OTHER CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES:By and large, with the exception of Andhra Pradesh, DIETs were not integrated into theactivities of the District Primary Education Project (DPEP). Academic focus in primaryeducation with district specificity was thus not systemically integrated into statestructures at the district level. Considerable learning and faculty development, as well asinstitutional focus could have been achieved through systemic integration.Currently, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA)provides scope for focusing on academic qualityissues. In many states, SSAprovides a space where there is innovation and possibility todesign new programmes, and evolve active engagement with the field for qualityimprovement. At the district level SSArequires annual work plans to be produced. DIETsand teacher and teacher education are now more systematically included into the SSAapproach. This integration tends to be mechanical (e.g.making DIETs the funding routefor block level trainings, etc.) On the whole, the overall thrust on teacher education(except for large scaletraining) as key in quality needs to be made more central in the SSAapproach and for this DIETs need to be more systematically integrated into and alsomadean object and instrument ofquality improvement. For the institution, this would providea much needed opportunity to become 'relevant' and to find focus in its activities. ForSSA,DIET needs to beviewed as a key institution to bedeveloped towards ensuring long-term sustain ability and systemic integration of its key efforts.

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IV . F IN A NC IA L A SP EC TS4.1 URGENT NEED FOR OVERALL PROVISIONINGDIETs require much higher investments in their infrastructure and facilities for facultyand students in order to emerge as strong centers for teacher professional developmentand school improvement. Currently, they are poorly equipped for this role. The lack ofeven minimum facilities, dilapidated buildings and inadequate space is demoralizing andconveys the lack ofworth and neglect to faculty and students. Expecting the institution todeliver urgently requires not only ensuring these minimum needs are met, but alsoimprovement of the ambience and facilities of this institution through much higherinvestment in infrastructure. Towards this the limited Central funding for this institutionneeds to be enhanced and states also need to begin to invest. Rather than be seen asexcessive spending on assets and capital expenditure, this needs to be understood as amuch-needed investment for amore long-term institutional development.

Adequate provisioning of space, including building additional classrooms,training and meeting rooms, faculty rooms, and play facilities.

Library needs to be enhanced in order to function as a resource centre for theDistrict. Faculty and students also require accessto computers and internet. Hostel facilities are required for students of the pre-service training programmes.

4.2 FINANCIAL PLANNING, AUTONOMY AND FLEXIBILITYThere are currently mainly three sources offunds for DIETs:

1. MHRD grant.2. Fee from students.3. SSArelated activities.

The DIETs' Annual Work Plan (AWP) process currently does not take an integratedwhole institution approach to planning, where funds can be seen as different sources ofsupport towards activities that are decided upon and prioritized at the institutional level.Instead, separate plans are produced depending on the budget source, clearly indicatinghow the financial autonomy does not lie within the institution, and accountability is forspecific grants coming from outside. This sets the culture of fragmented planning of theinstitution and the 'fund-spending approach' to selection and execution of activities. Thesystem is set up to be monitored by financial norms set up at State office or Centralaccounts offices, leading to an inflexibility and inability to reflect the requirements ofspecific activities. This, and the poor and untimely flow of funds, are key reasons forunderutilization of funds atthe DIET level.Institutional autonomy and growth requires the support of financial autonomy.Principals need to have freedom to evolve and work towards an institutional plan, and tomake financial decisions that will support the institutional objectives. They need to beable to make decisions at their own level instead of (a)referring matters to the DSERT (b)being constrained by inflexible norms. Devolving financial autonomy to DIET principalsis necessary. Norm-driven and centrally controlled financial systems may be easier tomanage, but these inflexibilities lead to inefficiencies in the design and implementation ofactivities.

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4.3FISCAL GOVERNANCETimely flow of funds is crucial to restoring a basic functionality to the DIETs. Thiswould support DIETs in discharging their routine activities in a reasonable fashion ratherthan resorting to inefficient overwork in efforts to 'complete budgets' before the Marchaccounting year deadline. Yet, in most parts of the country this has been a major reasonwhy DIETs have not been able to do even the little that they can do, which iswithin theirown hands to achieve. Even currently, given the delay in the central approval for the 1 1 t hplan budget, salaries of DIET personnel have been delayed for over six months. As thefunding is central and linked to the plan, it is necessary for states to evolve ways offacilitating smooth flow of funds to DIETs and also evolve appropriate financialdepartment structures so that this flow of funds is not impeded. The timely discharge ofactivities, and ultimately their quality, depends crucially upon this.An overall state structure for fiscalgovernance is required to ensure timely release of fundsthrough disaggregated tranches. Structures created for projects such as SSA do notfacilitate the over-hauling of the larger system, but create a small niche for differentpractice. Post project, the system may become lessvibrant asthese systems created for theproject closewith it.

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v . P E O P L E M A T T E R

5.1 FINDING AND KEEPING FACULTYFinding people with expertise in and experience of elementary education isalso aproblemfor the DIETs, given the current routes to becoming faculty.

Currently the main routes to become DIET faculty:(1 ) H ig h s ch oo l t ea ch in g/ he ad ma st er sh ip ,

(BA/BSc + B . E d) + High Sc ho o l t ea c hi ng(2 ) E du ca tio n a dm in istra tio n c ad re s c

(BA/BSc + BEd) + of f icer exper ience(3 ) D irect re cru itm en t (in a f ew sta tes)

BA/BSc + M E d d eg rees(school teach ing exper ience , if a ny, is likely to b e h ig hschool)

Currently, knowledge of elementaryeducation either via DEd Certification orprimary school teaching experience is notavailable within the DIET. Further therecruitment policies do not reflect any clarityon the roles that faculty are expected to play. Ifthey are to be 'experts' then it is necessary thatthey are qualified with appropriate expertisein subject areas, or in the areas of educationitself (research and practice). It is crucialtherefore to have clarity on whether wevisualize DIET faculty DOING academic workthemselves or being administrators of academicwork? The design and approach to capacitybuilding also requires this basic clarity offaculty roles vis-a-visacademic work.

Opening up new routes for people to join DIETs, including direct recruitment andvisiting positions in DIETs could be considered. These routes would enable BRPs, CRPsand Teachers to come to DIET for periods of time. Visiting positions where universitypersons can spend time in DIETs, as faculty would be useful. It would also break theisolation ofuniversities from the larger governmental schooling system. Similarly, DIETscould also host artists or theatre people or University people from other disciplines whocould come to spend around sixmonths working with teachers and children. When newkinds of people come in, it would contribute to the institution's character and also thescope of its activities in the area ofprofessional development for teachers.

Problems from understaffingD IET S a ls o h a ve a n a dd it io na l p ro bl em o f b e in g c hr on ic al lyu nd er st aff ed . I n m o st D IET s a bo ut 50% o f t he p o s ts a re o ft enu nf il le d. A d de d t o t hi s i s t h ep ro bl em t ha t e xi st in gf ac ul ty a refre qu en tly d ra wn u pon by th e S ta te in stitu tio ns fo r th eirown tra in ing , textbook w riting and coord inationrequ irem ents. A s a resu lt there is frequently no t enoughh um an p ow er to a cc om p lis h th e D IE Ts o wn w or k.

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A basic institutional instability is created bythe fact that people constantly move in andout of DIET. This is a situation to be found inalmost every state, where people movebetween administrative and academicpositions with the former being moreattractive (powerful and lucrative) ascompared to the latter. Can encadrement be asolution to the problem of not havingdedicated personnel for DIETs?


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In fa vo ur o f e nc ad re me ntA group of people dedicated to services in the DIET needs to be created and thus DIETwould have accessto a pool with relevant qualifications and expertise, based on entranceand selection to the cadre. As they are in this cadre, they would not seek postings out, toother non-academic posts, as is currently the practice. Capacity building ofpeople withinthe cadre would be able to contribute directly to the work related to the DIETs, astheseenhanced capacities would continue to be available to the DIET.Agai ns t e nc ad rementCadres create unnecessary boundaries and closedmembership groups. It would sealaccessto new people with professional expertise. Cadre would strengthen the' cadre identity'and would not contribute directly to 'institutional identity' growth. The problemscreated by transfer would continue, as people would be shifted from DIET to DIET. Itwould be difficult to monitor the faculty profile of DIETs to ensure that all areas ofrelevant expertise are available. One should continue to vest institutional control andcharacter with central authorities responsible for posting and transfer.A lte rn ativ e to 'c ad re ' a nd tra nsfe r: O pe n a dv ertise me nt a nd d ire ct se le ctio nWhat ispreferable isa system ofdirect selection for each post. All interested, with relevantacademic and experience profiles, could apply for a vacant post and be selected for thisthrough open competition. This would be the way through which a faculty from DIET'A' could seek a new posting in DIET 'B', or professionally move upward from post oflecturer to senior lecturer or vice principal, etc. This would ensure that people apply for,and are chosen for specific job descriptionsin DIET. This system could be 'closed' toonly government employees who arealready within the system, or be kept 'semi-open' permitting a mix of government andopen selection candidates, or bemade' open'for all. A 'semi-open' or 'open' recruitmentsystem would make possible entry ofpersons from University or otherorganizations for a limited period of timewithin the DIET, on lien arrangements. Theorganizational affinity, institutional andprofessional character of DIET facultywould beenhanced by such a system.

Encadrement and Direct Recruitment in Gujratand Tamil NaduGujra t a nd T am il N ad u a re tw o sta te s w h ere th er e is a c ad re fo rthe D IE T. In G ujra t there has been both d irect recru itm en t toD IE Ts a long w ith m ore au tonom y be ing devo lved to D IE Ts.T his h as le d to m o re D IE T- sp ec ific a ctiv ity a s w ell a s stro ng erp ro fe ssio na l id en tity a m on g D IE T fa cu lty . H ow ev er, in G ujr att he re i s s ti ll a c o nt in u ed p ro b lem o ff re q ue n t a n d e rr at ic t ra n sf er sw ith in the cadre and institu tions. D IETs have a lso beenfa cilita te d to u nd er ta ke se lf- asse ssm en t stu die s a nd fo r th is toi nv o lv e l oc a l u n i ve rs it y e d uc a ti on d e pa rtmen ts a n d p e rs on n el .

5.2 LEADERSHIPIn each casewhere DIETs have been known to be more functional and even relevant, therole of the principal, quality of academic leadership, vision and organisationalmanagement have been crucial. Leadership has been able to work by:

Linking DIET to larger educational concerns, community and educationalactivities at the district level and state level, thus addressing the problem ofinsularity.

Focussing DIET faculty and DIET activities around meaningful and achievablegoals.

Acting in more autonomous ways by taking advantage of opportunities at thestate level and also locally.

Motivating staffto maximize individual initiative aswell asto work in teams.15


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Organising people and taking initiative, even with respect to financialallocations, to enable staff to undertake their activities.

Enabling institution and faculty to relate to each other through non-hierarchicalways.

Providing regular monitoring and supervision of various delegated tasks. Sharing credit and sense of achievement with allfaculties.

Capacity building is a process of helping anindividual or group to identify and addressissues as well as to gain the insights, knowledgeand experience required to solve problems andimplement change. It is recognized widely that

by-and-large DIET faculty do not have the requisite knowledge and expertise for the rolesthat they are expected to play. Capacity building can address this specific' deficit' aswell asthe need for an overall 'professional development'. There is need to move away from a'training for the job' or a 'deficit' approach to capacity building, which seems to arisefroma misplaced notion that a generalist can be turned into a teacher educator through sometraining module meant for this purpose. Such an approach of 'fitting' people for their jobby putting them through training goes against the professionalisation that one wants toachieve in this field.

Capacity building of DIET faculty, like any professionally conceptualizedprogramme for personal development, needs to be built essentially on the

imagination of those working in thefield, nurturing autonomy and search forbetterment and growth.Capacity building must therefore focuson providing various relevantopportunities for development. Thiscould include support to study incourses offered in institutions of highereducation.A general orientation to DIET as aninstitution can be carried out for newentrants, to nurture the development ofthe institutional identity and focus ofwork.Inter DIET collaborations and studytours could also provide opportunitiesfor capacity building.

Leadership in DIET-Gaya, Bihar andDIET-Karvetinagar, Andhra PradeshThe Principal of DIET-Gaya was able to make his DIETfunctional and relevant through hispersonal initiatives: heused his network of connections to ensure that thefacultyhad opportunities to visit external training sites andundergo training even though there was no systematictraining available in the state.

The Principal ofDIET-Karvetinagar was able to initiate anumber of activities, which did not require budgetallocations or for which he was able to mobilize localcontributions, to enable the DIET to take up innovativeprogrammes.

Programmes for Capacity Building ofDIETs NCERT and NIEPA ran courses for DIET capacitybuilding. However thesewere discontinued when it was

found faculty werefrequently transferred out of thisjobafter receiving thesetrainings.In Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, DFIDfunded a project of capacity building of DIET facultythrough undertaking collaborative action researchprojects with DIE Tfaculty.In Karnataka, several lecturers from DIETs cametogether to designfor their colleagues a short inductiontraining to introduce and orient them to the DIET, itsvision and itsfunctions,

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The need for selection as a principle forrecruitment of the academic leader of the DIETis crucial. She/He must be provided withadequate tenure to articulate and realise aninstitutional vision. She/He must also beprovided with adequate freedom and support inthe selection of faculty as well as in theorganisation of the institution, setting its goalsand formulating its activities.

5.3 APPROACH TO CAPACITY BUILDING OFFACULTY


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The Lab- Area of DIET can potentially be a space for direct field interaction tounderstand and develop capacities through direct engagement. There is nosubstitute for this kind of experiential learning.Other capacity building ideally should take place through more open-endedpersonal initiatives.

5.4 NURTURING A PROFESSIONAL CULTUREThe Institutional work culture needs to nurture creative professional practices.Standards for work need to be arrived at consensually. Rather than being driven byexternal monitoring, self-assessment, performance appraisals and peer reviews would beable to nurture the professional culture. The only 'incentive' to innovate in this systemcan be recognition of work, not monetary benefits; hence the importance of a supportiveand encouraging environment.Both empowerment and a need for mobility are consequences of professionaldevelopment and capacity building. Currently the institutional culture is negativelyaffected by a hierarchical modus of operation, which stifles agency. Empowerment leadsto a situation where these hierarchical modes of functioning are called into question andopportunities to innovate and take initiative are sought by faculty. Ifany layer ofthe hierarchy becomes empowered, then it would also become more

capacitated than the higher layer, then there is bound to be a situation of conflict.Rather than avoid or merely survive conflict, it is possible to view conflict as apositive outcome and learn to handle it so that the fallout isnot harmful. If through empowerment, people begin to act in more autonomous ways andmake decisions, then it is necessary that the 'work-site' supports this and not,works against' those who are taking initiative and exercising freedom.

The need for movement and mobility, and the problems arising from this for personnelof the DIET, can be approached and managed either administratively or academically. Anadministrative solution would manage this by setting norms on transfers, withrequirements such as minimum two years service prior to transfer, etc. But theseadministrative measures are prone to political interference and misuse. Academicsolutions include providing teacher fellowships, faculty exchange, and attachments withother institutions within or outside the District; these provide a way of brining inmovement of people and ideas. There is immense possibility for DIETs to form suchlinkages with other institutions. Permanent moves could be through selection for posts inother institutions (see5.1 'Alternative to cadre and transfer').

Opportunities for Higher Studies in Elementary EducationT he MA Edu ca tio n ( El em en ta ry ) o ff er ed by t he T a ta I ns ti tu te o f Soc ia l S ci en ce s,Mumba i h a s b ee n d es ig ne d c ol la bo ra ti ve lyw ith N IA S, B an ga lo re , H Be SE , M um ba i, V id ya B ha wa n S ociety, U da ip ur, E kla vy a, B ho pa l, a nd D ig an ta r,fa ip ur. It is a neffo rt to d ev elo p p ro fessio na ls in th e f ield o f e le men ta ry ed uc atio n th ro ug h sy ste ma tic a nd rig oro us stu dy o f elem en ta ryedu cation, to bring theo ry and field practice in interaction w ith each other and generate a discourse an d p ro fessio nalp ersp ectiv es a nd p ra ctic e relev an t to th e In dia n co nte xt. T he p ro gra mm e is co nd ucted in th e d ua l m od e to e na ble w ork in gp eo ple to p ar tic ip ate a nd u pg ra de th eir p ro fe ss io na l s ki ll s a nd to e na bl e e xp ert fa cu lty f rom d iffe re nt p ar ts o f th e c ou ntr y t oco ntrib ute to tea ch in g in th e p ro gra mm e. T he d ista nce /se lf stu dy p art o f th e p ro gra mm e is su pp orted th ro ug h a n in te rn etb as ed l e ar ni ng mana gemen t s ys tem . T h e e l ig ib il it y i s an y u n de r- gr ad ua te d eg re e. T h e pr og ramme wa s l au n ch ed i n 2006.Jamia Mil ia Is lamia ,De lh i and Regiona l Ins ti tu te o fEduca t ion , Mysoreo ffe rfu ll t ime one-yearM Ed programmes .Studen ts complet ingB. Ed . , B. El .Ed . and B.Sc.Ed.are eligibletoapplyin theseprogrammes.

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V I. D IE T FU NC TIO NS A ND A CT IV IT IE S6.1 PROFESSIONAL FORA AND RESOURCE CENTERSAt every level in the system, from schoolteachers to DIET faculty, the educationcommunity requires amotivational environment for interaction with people and ideas,through which one can inspire and sustain initiatives. In other words opportunities forexposure to learning and discussion of different perspectives, experiences and experimentsofteaching-Iearning processes, material development, and training.Professional fora are key spaces for the strengthening of reflective practice throughoutthe education system. Thse include monthly meetings for teachers at the cluster level,meetings of head masters, planning and review meetings of CRPs and BRPs, and reviewmeetings of academic progress by diabid administrative and academic personneltogether. Such fora, if they are to be more than routinised administrative meetings, needto be sustained by clarity of vision and goals, strong leadership to conduct these meetings,and aculture of regularity, openness, and reflective review.

The DIET can itself be such a forum for the District School Academic Planningand Review, and Master for Resource Persons (District Resource Group), CRPs,andBRPs.

The DIET can support fora at the block and cluster levels, for the Block resourcegroups, and head masters and teachers.

The Resource Center is an enhanced library created specifically to make available toteachers, teacher educators and district education planners, the range of materials andresources they require in relation to their professional practice. Although the DIET,BRCs and CRCs have been called resource centers, and were conceptualized to cater tothe academic requirements of teaching and resource communities, yet this importantconceptual aspect of these institutions is not yet realized in spite of existence for manyyears. As a result they work simply astraining sites for teachers and asdata submission andtransfer points for BRPs and CRPs.A resource centre would include:

A functioning resource library of reference books, children's books teachinglearning materials, textbooks, maps and other resource materials, includingaccessto Internet and computer enabled resources.Local materials of relevance to education (teaching and planning) such as studiesof education in the district and education statistics, a collection of localexperiments and innovative efforts related to education, etc.

Tools and materials for replication ofteaching aids, etc.

Sets of materials that teachers canborrow and take into the classroom fordirect use (not only for demonstrationbut multiple kits to organize activitiesfor whole classalso).Updated database on: resource persons/

Six Key Roles to beplayed by Teacher Support Institutionsaccording toADEPTs: An MHRD-UNICEF Initiative

groups, resourceorganizations/ agencies, and researchinstitutes working on elementaryeducation, to make it available at districtto use for academic purposes.

1. Gene ra te e ff ec ti ve r el at io n sh ip s a n d mo ti va te p e rf orman ceE sta bl is h v is io n o f imp ro ve d p er fo rm a nc e a nd s et g oa lsB u ild c ap ac ity t hr ou gh p la nn ed m e as ur esA s se ss a n d mon it or p e rf orman ceR e sp o nd t o emer gi ng s it ua ti on sGe ne ra te f ur th er h uman r es ou rc e t owa rd s s us ta in ed

2 .3.4.5 . 6 .

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The resource center works to nurture aprofessional community ofusers by: Promoting an interest in and a culture of using the library as a support for

teaching and training, for ideas and for materials. Developing a culture of sharing ideas and experiences by contributing materials

developed by teachers, etc. to the resource center. Networking the district, block, cluster and school resource centers for effective

exchange of ideas, information and resources. To provide academic help and support to resource groups working at different

levels (district, block and cluster levels) in the district. To facilitate teachers in developing and using educational resources that is low

cost/locally available. To provide a forum for interactions with educationists, intellectuals, artists,

creative teachers, resource persons and resource group to the districtfunctionaries, including CRPs, BRPs, DIET faculty, D.Ed and B.Ed students.

6.2 PRE-SERVICE TRAINING ACTIVITY OF DIETSPre-service training of teachersis the most crucial phase of teacher development and determinesthe core identity of teachers. The qualitative improvement of elementary education willbecomepossible only with very robustprogrammes for pre-service training.

To support quality elementaryeducation, which is universal,teacher preparation has toundergo radical reform. Currentpre-service teacher educationprogrammes, their syllabi,methodologies, and overallapproach to teacher education,need to be reviewed and renewed.The current curriculum and

methodologies do not address therequirements of elementary schoolteachers working in a UEEsituation and fail to provide thetrainee with understanding andattitudes needed to work withchildren from a variety ofchildhoods and social milieu, orwith the knowledge and skillsrequired to teach reading, earlyliteracy and numeracy. Theirapproach to planning of teachingalso is centered on B.Ed type lessonplanning from textbooks. Theculture of these Institutes ishierarchical and paternal, treatingthe teacher trainees like childrenand awork routine to instill in themnorms of obedience, learning byrote, teaching to the textbook and

The District Education Resource Center at DIET andEducation Resource Centers atfive Block Resource Centersof ChamarajanagarThe D ER C at C ham ara janagar w as estab lished in M ay 2007w ith the active invo lvem ent o f the D IET and N IASc ol la bo ra ti on . T h is c en te r h as a bo ut 4000 b oo ks in K an na daa nd E n gl is h, a ud io -v id eo m a te ria ls , a v ar ie ty o fT LM s, I nt er ne ta nd c om p ute r a cc es s. It i s m a na ge d by a R eso urce C en ter in -c ha rg e. S m alle r c olle ctio ns o f b oo ks a nd T LM s h av e a lso b ee nprovided a t the b locks. T rainers use these actively duringtr ain in gs, te ac he rs, D .E d stu de nts a nd R eso urc e P er so ns a rea m on g th e m a in u se rs o f th e R e so urc e C en te r, in a dd itio n to th ech ild ren o f lo ca l s choo ls .A n a ttr ac tiv e d isp la y b oa rd is c ha ng ed o nc e a w ee k. T ea ch ers o fth e lo ca l s ch oo l h av e a ctiv ely ta ke n u p o rg an izin g th is d isp la yb oa rd . T he y h av e a ls o n ow a ctiv ate d th eir o wn sc ho ol lib ra ry .T he R es ou rc e C en te r in -c ha rg e e ns ure s th at e ac h te ac he r w h ovisits th e cen ter in tera cts w ith a t lea st o ne o r m ore item th anshe/he cam e in look ing for. The user u tiliza tion is care fu llym a in ta in ed a nd mo ni to re d.P rincipals of the D IETs from all d istr icts of Karna takaa pp re ci at ed t ha t t his i s a s pa ce t ha t c an b e e as il y c re at ed w it hi nt he D IET a nd w h ic h c an p os it iv el y c on tr ib ut e t o s tr en gth en in gt he a c ad em ic c u lt ur e a n d i de n ti ty o f t h e I ns ti tu te .(T he D VD in clu de d in th is d oc um en t p ro vid es a s ho rt f ilm e xp lic atin gt hi s c o nc e pt i n p ra c ti ce a t Chamara ja n ag a r D i st ri ct , Ka rn a ta k a. }

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being in uniform, rather than encouraging healthy debate and developingindividual identities asteachers .For a qualitative review of teacher education programmes, we need to return tothe core questions of 'what should teacher education seek to do'? and how canthe curriculum of teacher education programmes bedesigned to enable teachersto become' change agents' .

DIETs are potential sites for implementing high quality pre-service trainingprogrammes. In many statesDIETs have been established in collegeswhich were alreadycarrying out training. DIETs understand and are most effective in the area of pre-serviceteacher education as compared to any of their other assigned activities. The generalexperience however has been that with 'up-gradation' into DIET, this core activity hassuffered on account of (a) change in personnel policy and hence inability to have goodteacher educators (b) overall loss of focus and' departmentalisation' of the Institute, and(c) in some cases additional administrative responsibilities such as monitoring the localprivate D.Ed colleges. Currently, the pre-service programmes ofDIETs are no differentfrom what isoffered in any other college.

1. Pre-service Elementary Teacher Education must on the whole be reinvigorated andthe DIET isan important site for this agenda.(i) DIETs must be supported with finances, personnel and autonomy needed to

innovate and provide high quality elementary teacher pre-service educationprogrammes.

(ii) They must also be enabled to innovate in areas of curriculum, syllabus andpedagogy of the D .Ed programmes.

(iii) For more academic focus theremust be closer linkages withUniversities and NGOs workingin elementary education.

(iv) The Pre-service TeacherEducation Programmes and theirsyllabi and teaching methods needto be reviewed and renewed.

(v) The pressing need in many statesto attend to the training of para-teachers has led to a situationwhere the regular pre-serviceteacher training has beencompletely neglected.

2. A key area of reform in pre-serviceteacher education is engagement withbasic content areas. This isnot a plea toadd more papers on content into theD.Ed curriculum, but to find creativesolutions within existing requirementssuch aspedagogy, or internship, whichwill simultaneously permit thestudent-teacher to engage with somepart of content in an in-depth manner.

BE1Ed: An innovative teacher education programmeofferedby the University ofDelhi.The BEIEd is a four-year in tegra ted teacher educa tionp r og r amme t o p re p ar e e leme nt ar y s ch o ol t ea c he rs . E n tr y i s a ft er+2 , and it leads to a degree tha t is equ iva len t to a BE d. Thep ro gr amme c omb in es a p ro gr es si ve e ng ag em e nt w it h c hi ld re n,from carrying ou t cra ft w ork w ith them to teach ing over thefour-years, a long w ith rigorous courses o f study in thefo un da tio ns o f e du ca tio n, to u nd ers ta nd I nd ia n so cia l re ality ,c h il dh o od s , c h il d d e ve lo pmen t a n d l ea rn in g , b a si c c o u rs es i n t hes u bje c ts o f s c h oo l t o ' re le a rn ' s ch o ol k n ow l ed g e a n d t he n d e ve lo pp ed ag og ic al u nd er sta nd in g. T he p ro gra mme a lso p ro vid es a no pp ortu nity fo r th e stu dy o f a lib era l d iscip lin e fo r tw o yea rs .T h ef in a l y ea r i nc lu d es e xt en si ve i nt er ns h ip i n s ch o ol sa lo n g w i ths tu dy o f o pt io na l p ed ag og ie s fo r m i dd le s ch oo l. B y u nd er go in gs ev era l c ou rse s in th ea tre , a rt, a nd s elf-d ev elo pm en t, a nd bym ainta in ing journa ls for reflection , s tuden ts a lso engagere fle ctiv ely w ith th em se lv es a nd th eir g ro wth a s te ac he rs. T heprogram me is curren tly o ffered in severa l undergraduateco ll e ge so f th e Un iv er s it y o fDe lh i .

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3. Another key area for attention is the development of good reading materials for ourteacher trainees andteacher educators.

6.3 IN-SERVICE TEACHER PROFRESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTTeacher professional development is a more robustidea than 'in-service teacher training', which oftentends to be functional and instrumental in itscharacter. Just as professionals seek out thedevelopment which they need, a similar processshould be engendered for teachers. F or this, first andforemost D IET needs to be oriented to provide aprofessiona l fo ru m. Secondly, all p rog ra mm es m ust finda cce pta nce w ith th e te ach er g ro up s c on cern ed , reg ard in gthe aim s and why they m ay w ant to attend. The princip leof cho ice based on some valid assessment o f persona ln ee ds w ou ld p ro vid e a so un d b asis fo r se le ctio n.

R eform ing D Ed SyllabiT he fa cu lty o f t he D e lh i D IE Ts a nd th e S C ER T h ave b eg una process of review ing and reconstructing theirD Ed Curricu lum , and have sought a linkage w ith theUni ve rs itie s i n t his e xe rc is e. T he USRN is a b le t o p ro vid ea platform for these three groups to m eet on equal andpa rt ic ipa to r y t erms .E du ca tio n fa cu lty n eed to b e i nvig ora te d w ith a g re at d ea lof ou tside invo lvem ent of those from the Universitysy stem . R efo rm p ro cesses n eed to en gen der o wn ersh ip o ft he t ea ch er . B u t owne rs hi p a ls o r eq ui re s a ge nc y.

Training is one way of addressing continuedprofessional development of teachers. Other significant ways include:

Short and long term courses of study and Higher studies in education or otherdisciplines.

Participation intextbook and material development related work. Participation andmembership in teacher networks such asBGVS and TNSF. Attending workshops and seminars organized by both government and non-

government agencies. Contributing to teacher education programmes astrainers and resource persons. Innovations and research in the classrooms.

The IFIC wing, which is meant to be involved with the practice of teachers, could havemore people who think about and respond to teacher professional needs.Education and Training curricula need to vary in length (i.e. time span). Year longcurricula too could be considered, especially if the objective is to reflect and mentor sothat learning from the training site is expected to transfer into the classroom. Otherwisethe assessment is very premature. Particularly when we are talking about areas such asattitude or motivation, we cannot take a very functional approach to the training. Therealso needs to be some validity in the content and topics from the point of view of theregion or the district, and in adirect sense relevant to teachers.(1) Trainings must be designed and delivered locally to the extent possible, rather than

routinised implementation of trainings receivedfrom above in the cascade system. The MasterResource Persons' involvement in training T ea ch er d esig n th eir o wn p ro fessio na lobjectives, leading to training design, would lead d ev elo pm e nt p ro gr ammesto better quality trainings for teachers - 'live' and I n Jan g ir h D i st ri ct , C h ha ti sg ar h, t ea ch er s t hem se lv esnon-routine. g ot to ge th er to so lv e a ll th e m ath em atics p ro ble ms in

(2) Cascade tra ining models need to be used for th e te xtb oo ks o f cla sse sI to V III, a nd in th e p ro ce ss n otspecific skill and information related areas where only found o ut ab out their ow n w eaknesses, but alsothere is less likelihood of dilution across levels. a s si st ed each o the r to l ea rn.Cascade designs could alsohave elements for localalteration.

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(3) Trainings must be carried out based on the cluster person's assessment 0/ needs 0 /teachers in their clusters and linked to a process 0/ school/allow-up and mentoring inwhich the CRPs participate. For this, trainings need to be carried out at the clusterlevel. CRPs need to have information regarding who needs what training, based onwhich teachers should be called for training. After training of the teachers, thereshould be debriefing ofCRPs in terms ofhow to carry out school based support.

( 4 ) For training to bemore effective, trainers need to meet with the same group a/teachersagain, after they have had some opportunity to practice, so that they can discusswhat worked, what did not and also address the issuesthat teacher's experience. Forthis, a 'split model' is better than trainings. In such amodel, sessions would beof sayon two days followed by a month or two of practice followed by again meeting (ofthe same group with the same trainers) for two or three days to reflect and to learn,etc.

(5 ) Small groups for training (i.e. about 25 to 30) and trainings enriched with resourceand ideas would lead to more impact and make trainings more interesting andrelevant for teachers.

(6) Teacher trainings, if it is viewed holistically within the perspective of the wholeschool's institutional development including its ethos and support for teacher'spractice, is more likely to cumulatively result in practical changes that can have acurriculum impact.The development of attitudes of teachers seems to be amajor concern today. This isoften approached as a problem of developing the affect. However, attitudes involve

the intellect and our perspective onthings. In the context of UEE, teachersneed better perspective andunderstanding of the issues concerningchildren of the poor, children of 'low'castes, girls, and children with learningand various other kinds of disabilities.Through understanding and developingperspective the development ofempathetic attitudes and motivation towork with underprivileged groups canbenurtured.

( 7 )

Importance offield interactionIt i s o n ly by e nte rin g in to a v ib ra nt a nd m ea nin gfu l rela tio nsh ipw i th t he f ie ld , a n d i n p a rt ic ul ar s ch o ol s, t e a ch er s a nd c hi ld re n , t ha tD IE Ts w ill fin d th eir 'ra iso n d 'e tre '. U ltim ate ly a ny a ctivity o f t heD IE T re qu ire s th is re la tio nsh ip w hic h ca n c re ative ly d efin e a ndreview its ro le in th e lig ht o f the sign ifica nce it ha s in the lives ofsch oo ls a nd teach ers. T he IF IC w ing o f the D IE T w as exp ected toh av e su ch a v ib ra nt re la tio nsh ip w ith th efie ld . H ow eve r its m ainf oc us h a s b e en r ed u ce d t o t ra in in g .F re qu en tl y th es e d ay s o ne h ea rs d em a nd s th at D IET f ac ult y s ho ul dvisit scho ols. U nfo cussed visits w itho ut a ny sense o f h ow this ise xp ec te d to co ntrib ute to th e a ca de mic d ev elo pm en t o f sc ho ols isa rb itra ry a ctiv ity , a nd a pa rt f ro m e du ca tin g th e D I ET fa cu lty c ancon trib ute very little to a ca dem ic n eed s of sch ools th em selves.W he n c arried o ut a s o ne -o ff visits , th ey o nly se rv e a s 'in sp ec tio nv is it s '. How ev er , if ca rr ie d o ut w it h a p la n a nd s co pef or s ub se qu en tr egu lar v is it s th es e in te r ac tions can lead to teacher men to r ing .Many D IETs, in order to prom ote field interaction, havee nc ou ra ge d f acu lty to a do pt m an da ls a nd w ork in th em re gu la rly .Such arrangem ents need to be supported w ith adequate TA forfa cu lt y, a nd a ls o m e ch an is ms th ro ug h w h ic h s uc h s ch oo l v is it s c anfeed into a regularly m ain tained data base reflecting variousa spec t s o f th e academic qua li ty o f s choo la c ti v it ie s.

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The concept of IFIC, in which in-servicetraining was located within a largerframework of field interaction andinnovation coordination, places inperspective in-service training in relation to anumber of other activities that contribute toteacher professional development. Yet, themodel has emphasised training over the fieldinteraction component. Providing massteacher training and providing institution-specific training are two different models.


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The availability of pools of master resource persons in all the curriculum areas (academicsubjects aswell asmusic, theatre, art and craft) would directly contribute to enriching thequality of teacher interactions in monthly meetings, and during trainings, workshops,and school based mentoring. The development of MRPs requires higher levels ofinvestment (higher unit costs) in training, aswell as support from well-equipped resourcecenters.6.5. LOCAL MATERIAL DEVELOPMENTLocally relevant materials are important especially in elementary schools, whererelevance enhances meaningfulness of the learning experience. DIETS, because of theirdistrict location, can ideally focus on the development of context specific materials thatcan be used by children in the district. Children's own drawing and artwork are a richresource that can be creatively used in such local materials. In addition, with theadvancement of technology, digital photographs and desk top publishing can lead tothe production of attractive locally produced materials. Over time, faculty, localresource persons and experts, teachers and even children themselves can produce andpublish materials not only for their own use but also for exchanging with otherschools.

Local materials can be produced on a variety ofthemes:

Local historical monuments Flora and fauna 'Problems' ofthedistrict Distinctive festivals and cultural events Songs, poems, and riddles Folktales Tracing historical events of significance

in the area Stories of people in the district The material life of people The crafts traditions ofthe area

Hunar Khoj ofDelhi DIETsT he D IE Ts o f D elh i undertook an extensive docum enta tion o flo ca l re so ur ce s. T hro ug h th is a ctiv ity , e ac h D I E T a tte mp te d toac tively engage w ith and understand som e facet of its loca lr es ou rc e b a se a nd c o nc e pt ua li se wa y s i n wh ic h t hi s c o ul d b e d r awnupon to enrich ongoing activities o f the D IE T. A reas o f focusincluded documenting local flora and fauna of the area ,id en tify in g lo ca l c ra fts p e op le a nd w ha t th ey c ou ld c on trib ute tos ch o ol s,ma p p in g wa te r b o di es a n d wa te r r el at ed c o nc er ns .In s om e D IE Ts th e D I E T fa cu lty u nd er to ok th e s ur ve ys. In o th erss tu d en ts wo rk ed a lo n g w i th t he fa c ul ty .

6.6MONITORING, PLANNING AND MANAGEMENTBeing located at the district level, DIETs potentially could undertake monitoring andreview of the academic activities and academic standards of the schools, by evolvingeffective ways of handling data pertaining to various aspects of academic achievementand provisioning and also relating to teachers and their practice. Currently DIETs do nothave systems or approaches to handling data, yet this could potentially be a valuableactivity of the DIET. Such capacity however requires familiarity and capability with basicresearch and documentation methods to handle and process data to produce simplereports.

Potentially DIETs could regularly conduct and produce district level reports onvarious quality parameters pertaining to the schools.

In the area of teacher training also, DIETs could serve to consolidate and keeptrack of the trainings being received by teachers through a training managementsystem. This coordinating role would not only make the current arrangements ofteacher training more efficient, but would significantly contribute to a morerational and transparent system oftraining.

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What iskey is not only to enable DIETs to produce such reports, but more importantly,to use these reports for the purposes of review and planning at their own level and also atthe levels below them: block and cluster.The Annual Work Plan (AWP) of theDIET needs to emerge as an activitysignifying the autonomous character of theinstitution and also providing it with focusfor the year. In most states, the AWP is aroutinised activity based on mechanicalallocation of equal amounts to all wings,which are then allocated to various teacher-training programmes. Instead the AWPcould serve to integrate and focus the DIETon district requirements and reflect its ownspecial role and how it visualizes making adifference to schools, teachers and children. Further the AWP needs to reflect how theDIET utilizes multiple sources of funding to achieve its institutional objectives. For thisthe AWP process needs to: Involve all District and sub district institutions concerned with education, in

particular the BRCs and CRCs, and within the framework of an educational planfor the district.

Beparticipatory in its approach, involving allDIET faculties. Be based on review of the previous year AWP and reflection on achievements in

relation to that. Take on board and plan in advance for various state programmes impacting on

DIET faculty time and resources. Take into active consideration the parallel efforts of other agencies at the district

level, including Non Government Organisations and other departments. Focus on and reflect district needs and district specific concerns, setting realisticgoals. Visualize relationship of DIET activities with schools, BRCs, CRCs and other

District institutions. Have a mix of both training and capacity building related workshops an

2-DIETs Potential and Possibilities-Eng

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