Rae Bareilly among 7 training centres of NVS

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs), which impart modern education to talented children of rural and remote areas, are now set to train their teachers.

The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has sanctioned seven Leadership Training Institutes for the faculty of the over-500-strong chain of schools. The institutes will come up on the Navodaya school campuses itself — in Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Goa, Udaipur, Rae Bareilly, Puri and Shillong.

Significantly, Rae Bareilly, which is Sonia Gandhi's constituency, will also get a National Sports Academy. Sonia is expected to lay the foundation stone of the academy next month.

“The idea is to train our teaching staff in modern pedagogy, upgrade their teaching skills and expose them to different teaching experiences with the aim of bettering the overall teaching environment at Navodaya schools. The institutes will offer a range of courses to teachers, right from their induction stage up to refresher training and so on,” said an official from the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti.

The Rs 40-crore initiative will also see teachers, eminent educationists and experts as visiting faculty to the institutes.

The NVS already operates small training centres out of its Navodaya schools in Chandigarh, Goa and Rangareddy. These centres will now be moved to permanent set-ups at the seven identified sites.

The training institutes for teachers apart, the Navodaya schools are also headed for a technology upgrade. All 583 Navodaya schools will reportedly get broadband connectivity soon with HRD Minister Kapil Sibal — who also holds the Telecom portfolio now — approving internet connection for the schools.

HRD to clarify on RTE at Navodayas

The HRD Ministry will soon issue a “clarification” over the applicability of the Right to Education Act to Navodaya Vidyalayas. After a final meeting with the Law Ministry on the issue, the government has decided that the Navodaya schools will be exempt from both the neighbourhood as well as the screening clauses under the RTE. It was also decided that there was no need for an amendment to the RTE Act for the same, as a provision for issuing 'clarifications' exists in the Act.