By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 12 May: Doon University hosted state level 3-day residential training for the school teachers of Uttarakhand under the aegis of iRISE (Inspiring India in Research Innovation in STEM Education). Indian Institute of Science and Education Research (IISER), Pune, is the national level coordinator of the programme. The training was completed successfully today for 75 teachers of Dehradun and Haridwar districts.
In the valedictory ceremony, Ravinath Raman (Secretary of Department of School Education, Uttarakhand) was the Chief Guest. Seema Jaunsari (Director, SCERT, Uttarakhand) was the Guest of Honor.
Raman highlighted that iRISE is the joint initiative of Union Department of Science and Technology, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the British Council, and Tata Technologies. He mentioned that this workshop, conducted in Doon University by IISER Pune in collaboration with State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Uttarakhand for the science and mathematics teachers of the state, may pave the way of development and transformation to adopting new, innovative and activity-based methodologies of teaching. Such methodologies may help the teachers develop interest among the students in mathematics and science. He also highlighted that Uttarakhand is the third state after Maharashtra and Bihar where this programme has been launched.
Seema Jaunsari stated that this training will be given to the teachers of all the districts of the state in a phased manner. A similar programme for the teachers of District Tehri and Uttarkashi will be held from 15 to 17 May at DIET in Tehri. Similarly, the programme will also be organised for the teachers of Rudraprayag, Pauri and Chamoli from 19 to 21 May at DIET, Pauri.
July 2023 onwards, this programme will be run for the teachers of Kumaon Division. A total of 500 teachers will be trained in the first phase. Thereafter, some of the teachers (trained in the first phase) will be selected for the second phase on the basis of their activities in the classroom. Under the second phase, selected teachers will receive 10-day residential training at the Indian Institute of Science and Education Research, Pune, or at Doon University. Teachers who receive 10 days training will be known as Innovation Champions. In the third phase, all the Innovation Champions will organise cascade workshops in their respective districts with the help of I-RISE.
Prof Harinath Chakrapani (National Coordinator of the programme) mentioned that this programme has four strands and one of them is the Teacher Development Strand, under which this workshop has been organised to train the teachers.
Dr MS Mandrawal said that the objective of this programme is to enhance innovation and creativity among teachers and students. Also to get more nominations for the students of the state in the Inspire Awards – Manak, which is a scheme of the Department of Science and Technology to encourage the children of the country to innovate. In training, priority has been given to the tendency to understand instead of rote learning. The teachers will learn how to teach science and mathematics to the young students by connecting them with the surrounding environment and giving examples of daily life incidents.
State Coordinator of Inspire Award Dr Avneesh Uniyal, Deputy Director of SCERT, Uttarakhand, Kiran Bahukhandi, and Dr Umesh Chamola were also present on this occasion. Prof RP Mamgain, Prof Kusum Arunachalam, Prof HC Purohit, Dr Arun Kumar, Dr Charu Dwivedi, Dr Preeti Mishra, Dr Rajesh Bhat, Dr Vipin Kumar, Dr Anuj Kumar and Suraj Purohit were present from Doon University.
