Sharpening the Rusted Knife
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: January 25, 2014 -

A knife which is not used for a long time gets rusted and becomes ineffective for utilization.

But, this does not mean that the rusted knife is useless. It has to undergo rigorous sharpening in order to regain its lost sharpness.

Likewise, the untrained elementary teachers of the State must take the hardship of undergoing a two-year's diploma course in elementary education under Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in order to prove their worth.

The State Government has launched the first phase of teachers' training programme under IGNOU on Thursday wherein some 3000 untrained elementary teachers have been enrolled.

All teachers have to be trained compulsorily under the guidelines of Right to Education (RTE) Act. Notably, there are about 7000 untrained elementary teachers under the State Education Department.

The State Government has set a target to train all these untrained teachers by 2015 for an approximate cost of Rs. 7 crore, which is to be borne by the Centre. Around Rs. 3 crore has already been sanctioned for the first phase of training of 3000 teachers for the two years' diploma course in elementary education.

Such programme was first launched by IGNOU in Arunachal Pradesh in August last year to help the untrained teachers acquire professional skills in elementary teaching and meet the 2015 deadline of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

The two-year diploma in elementary education will enhance the understanding and competency of teachers at "elementary-level teaching".

Under the RTE, provisions related to the training of untrained teachers were given an extension and now have to be met by 2015.

The teachers will be professionally trained through a two year course as per the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) norms.

IGNOU has taken up the first challenge to train 9,000 in-service teachers in Arunachal Pradesh.

The elementary teachers of the State will surely benefit from such comprehensive course of IGNOU.

However, it is doubtful if all those 3000 teachers will be able to pass the training course or not.

Many of the teachers enrolled for the training course will find it extremely difficult to get into studies once again, probably after several decades.

The training programme is not just necessary to uplift the education system of the State, but it will also decide the fate of those untrained teachers.

The thing is very clear before them now - get trained or terminated? In such a situation, they need to put in sincere efforts to get through the training successfully.

The saying "hard work is the key to success", which teachers often tell to their students should now be applied to themselves.

As mentioned earlier, the "rusted knife" is not at all useless. It can be made usable once again by sharpening it rigorously.

The so-called untrained teachers should have confidence in themselves that they will be able to improve the education system of the State after getting the professional training from IGNOU.

Let's hope that all untrained teachers of the State are trained by 2015 and new constructive changes come up in the education sector of the State in the years to come.