CBSE introduces online teacher training sessions to enhance teaching skills

Hyderabad: For the first time, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced an online teacher training programme in view of the nationwide lockdown. CBSE launched the technology-enabled teachers' training programme on a pilot basis from the third week of April. So far, more than 500 free online training sessions have been conducted by 15 CBSE centres of excellence (COE).

More than 35,000 teachers and principals from various parts of the country and abroad participated in these programmes. Considering the overwhelming response from both the faculty members and resource persons, the board has decided to launch structured online teacher training programmes to enhance teaching skills in these difficult times.

Dr. Bishwajit Saha, the director of skill education and training, said, "This pandemic has disrupted the education system that, according to many, was already losing its relevance. The board believes that enhancing professional development digitally is the need of the hour at a time when social distancing and remote interactions have become the new normal. Technology-enabled teachers' development programmes/training sessions can take a variety of forms, with concomitant advantages of convenience, scalability, and adaptability."

The structured online teacher training programmes seek to enable teachers to teach better, improve learning outcomes, and continuously instil new knowledge and skills as per the demand so as to keep them at par with expectations. The board aims to help teachers revise and refresh the knowledge that has already been provided to them during their regular training sessions and make it more practical.

Each online training session will last for an hour and no participation fee will be charged. An e-certificate will be issued to the participants and five sessions will be considered a day of training as per the affiliation bylaw.

CoE-wise detailed training schedule for May is available at annexure-1 along with the participation guidelines. The CoEs have planned around 1,200 online sessions this month. The board has requested the schools to encourage their teachers to participate in the ongoing online training programmes and contact concerned CoE for further details. Foreign schools affiliated to CBSE have been asked to contact CBSE joint secretary (training) at jstraining2018@gmail.com.