Trg institutes in state mooted

State governor, K. Sankaranarayanan, on Friday observed the need to set up training institutions in the state to reduce the large proportion of untrained teachers.
Addressing a seminar on “Training of untrained teachers in North East India: Issues and Challenges” at ATI Kohima as the chief guest, the governor asked as to “how can we expect quality and trained teachers when there is no training institute?”
The governor also expressed serious concern over the large number of untrained teachers which totals to about 50% in the North East and a dismal figure of 60% in Nagaland.
Pointing out that the literacy rate and enrollment ratios had increased, the governor rued that the quality of education was not at par with the general increase in coverage. He attributed the faulty and ineffective teaching methods in classes by unqualified teachers as reasons behind the problem.
He also noted that sheer indifference on the part of teachers, lack of determination at all levels of education system and inadequate planning on the part of implementing agencies were some other prominent reasons acting as hindrances to quality education.
The governor emphasized on the need for continuous training and upgradation in the proficiency of all the teachers.
He maintained that low performance of children in science and mathematics were worrisome, and that it acted as a huge dampener to their future prospects.
He urged the teachers dealing with technical subjects to get more continuous trainings so that innovative and engaging methods of teaching could be applied to make learners get drawn to the subject.
The governor asserted that the efforts in the education sector would be hollow if there was no improvement in the capacity of the teachers. He called upon the gathering to sensitize people about the value of good teachers and the urgent need for taking up the significant task of training the huge number of untrained teachers.
Delivering the keynote address, Director, School of Education, IGNOU, New Delhi, Prof. M.L. Koul said that the quality of education depended on quality of teachers.
Keeping in pace with the fast changing world, Prof. Koul said that the society required a new set of training not just to train teachers but to build them as good professionals. He said there should be constant upgradation trainings and capacity building of teachers.
Prof Koul also stressed on the importance of quality of interaction between teachers and learners. He called for the collective effort of all agencies to build quality teachers and thereby make the educational sector, qualitative.
The seminar on training of untrained teachers was conducted to discuss the issues and problems faced in the education sector in whole North East region. The North East region was identified as having a common problem of abnormal low percentage of trained teachers. The north east region has a total of about 50% untrained teachers as against the national average of 22%.
The regional seminar was jointly organized by IGNOU Regional Centre Kohima and SCERT Kohima. It was sponsored by the Education Development of North East region Unit (EDNERU) IGNOU, New Delhi.