Mita Mukherjee

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has decided to make 50 hours training compulsory every year for all teachers working in CISCE affiliated schools, Joseph Emmanuel, chief executive and secretary of the council said.

 Out of the total 50 hours, the individual schools can arrange the training for 25 hours and the remaining 25 hours of the training will be conducted by the council, he said.

The CISCE will conduct the training both online and offline and teachers will be allowed to participate in any one of the two modes. Every teacher will be awarded a certificate after completing the training in offline or in online mode, the council head said. According to the council, the teachers will have to pay a nominal, affordable charge for attending the training.

Multiple trainings are now regularly conducted for teachers of CISCE schools. But, as of now, it is not mandatory for teachers to attend the training programmes for a fixed period of time.

“The council already offers multiple training programmes for teachers at the school level. Now we are making it compulsory for every teacher working in CISCE schools to attend a minimum 50 hours training every year. The council believes in offering quality education to students. We have undertaken all possible steps to ensure every school is able to offer quality education. For example, we have introduced competency-based questions to reduce rote learning. Capacity building programmes for teachers are also being organized. The compulsory 50-hour teacher training will increase the teaching skills of teachers and enable every school to provide quality education to students,” Emmanuel told EducationWorld. 

Schools affiliated with the council will be soon informed about the decision. The council’s decision is in tune with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which recommends that every school should ensure participation of all its teachers in at least 50 hours of continuous professional development. 

Meanwhile, the CISCE chief executive and secretary ruled out any plan for introduction of the semester system in Class XI and XII.

The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education has recently announced the implementation of a semester system for Class XI from the current academic session (2024-25) and for Class XII from the 2025-26 session in all state-run and state-aided schools in Bengal.

“ We are working on several aspects of quality education but there is no plan to implement a semester system,” Emmanuel said.

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