UGC’s Proposal to set up Four Regional Centres of Educational Management

The University Grants Commission (UGC), in a meeting which was held for Proposed National Mission on Teachers and Teaching, has come up with an idea to set up four regional centres of educational management as well as establishment of Centres of Excellence in Science and Mathematics education during the meeting of Consultative Committee of Parliament for the Ministry of Human Resource Development for teachers training.

As per the contents of the proposal, the regional centres of educational management will come up at three Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bangalore and one in National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). In addition to it, the centres of excellence in Science and Mathematics education will come up at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research etc. All this effort is being done for development of specialized cadre of academy of teaching and teacher educators.

According to the Union Minister for HRD, Kapil Sibal, the final decisions of the proposed National Mission and its operational features are under discussion. The mission would definitely look after the current and urgent issues such as supply of qualified teachers, attracting talent into teaching profession and raising the quality of teaching in schools and colleges. Furthermore, it is also envisaged that the teacher mission would pursue the long term goal of building a strong professional cadre of teachers by setting performance standards and creating top class institutional facilities for innovative teaching and professional development of teachers.The use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) which acts as an enabler in enhancing the capacity of teachers was also emphasized UGC also. On the whole, Members of Parliament highlighted the requirement of a Mission on Teachers, as the shortage of teachers is very marked in the country. Members of Parliament also expressed concern regarding inadequate quality of education in the country.