Professional development programme for teachers

Muscat:  The Board of Directors, Indian Schools Oman organised Professional Development Programme for its teachers on the 1st and 2nd September 2023 at Indian School Muscat. Dr. Sudha Acharya, CBSE Master Trainer from New Delhi was the resource person.

Dr. Sivakumar Manickam, Chairman, Board of Directors, Indian Schools inaugurated the programme. In his inaugural address, Dr. Manickam accentuated on the need for continuous professional development of teachers particularly in the context of the New Education Policy and the introduction of the revised curriculum framework. “Professional Development Programmes enable teachers to keep pace with the best practices and latest trends in curriculum transaction; and it helps them in crafting personalised and practical lessons for their students,” he observed.

The programme dealt with the implementation of National Education Policy at different levels of schooling. Insights on the National Curriculum Framework and the salient features of NIPUN Bharat and Holistic Progress Card were also explicated for the teachers by the Resource Person.
NEP 2020 was presented as a forward-thinking and transformative document, aiming to align education with global agendas while ensuring quality, affordability, and accessibility in a sustainable manner.

Dr. Acharya highlighted the paramount importance of foundational literacy in a child’s development, which is a primary focus of NEP. Furthermore, she elaborated on the flexibility of the framework, where there’s no rigid separation between academics and co-curricular activities.

NEP 2020 places a strong emphasis on the career progression and capacity building of teachers, emphasising the need for continuous updates in innovative classroom interaction strategies. Dr. Acharya also stressed on the significance of addressing not only academic excellence but also the social and emotional well-being of children. Ms. Sudha Acharya gave insights on incorporating accountability, accessibility, equity, equality and gender-sensitive pedagogy in the education system, the 17 SDGs- Sustainable Development goals, Curriculum Mapping and its orientation and how to involve the community in our activities.

The resource person emphasized on Panchakosh Vikas- the five step learning process that is encouraged as per NCF and Vocational education.

The two-day conference was attended by the Principals, Vice Principals, Heads of Departments and teachers of all Indian Schools. There were 700 participants in both the days of the workshop and the rest of the teachers attended the programme virtually from their respective schools.