The Policy highlights the need for capacity building as an essential element in implementing the provisions of NEP-2020. It emphasizes that teachers must be central to fundamental reforms in the education system. The entire structure of the teacher-education programmes needs to be revamped by making it an integral part of the broader higher education. This will provide adequate opportunities for teachers to choose from the multiple course structure and flexible learning options.

NEP-2020 envisages that outstanding faculty with demonstrated leadership and management skills will be identified and trained over time to take on important academic leadership positions. Teachers must become facilitators to ensure the effective participation of students in online and hybrid classroom settings. Changes in the pedagogical role of the teachers are increasingly felt in situations of technology reforms.

The University Grants Commission has, in the past, initiated a few flagship programmes such as the faculty recharge programme, encore programme (scholar-in-residence), enhancing faculty resources programme, and Academic Staff College (ASCs), later recast as Human Resource Development Centre (HRDCs) for the professional development of college and university teachers. These initiatives of UGC catered largely to the non-technical HEIs. UGC has established 66 Human Resource Development Centres in various HEIs. Parakh, the AICTE-SLA is an IT-enabled Students Learning Assessment and Faculty Assessment Module. AICTE through the newly announced ACITE training and learning (ATAL) academy started unique faculty development programmes (FDPs) in various emerging areas and 1000 such online FDPs were conducted in 2020-2021. Immersive IDEA labs emphasize experiential learning, core and emerging areas competencies, examination reforms, pedagogy, and outcome-based assessment, leading to quality teaching learning in colleges across the country. The ATAL Academy has imparted training to more than three lakh faculty members on emerging niche areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, ML, DL, AR/VR, Robotics, Block Chain Management cyber security cloud and quantic company etc. across 1900 FDPs.

These HRDCs, are conducting orientation programmes, refresher programmes, the Guru Dakshta Faculty-Induction Programme (FIP) for newly recruited faculty and other in-service courses for teachers. Approximately 35,000 faculty-participants are being benefited through the programmes/courses conducted by the 66 UGC HRDCs every year. Apart from the FIP and Refresher courses, UGC also conducts Short-term Programmes, each with a duration of six working days (72 hours). The HRDC has the freedom to spread the 72 working hours over ten days to ensure more participation and convenience for participants.

More than 10,000 faculty members have been trained on AICTE’s Examination Reforms Policy through 43 three-day workshops conducted across the country in collaboration with NITTTRs and KLE Technological University, Hubli. To create an ecosystem of innovation and to strengthen the innovative and mentoring capacity of teachers, the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell at AICTE in collaboration with CBSE launched the “Innovation Ambassador Programme” germinating the seeds of inventions in young minds.

The session deliberated on the ways to foster the above aspects of capacity building of teachers.