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The Union Ministry of Education (MoE) has roped in IITs and IIMs to train teachers and principals of PM-Shri on how to make teaching subjects like mathematics, science, and languages, among others, fun and interesting
PM-Shri is a central sector scheme aimed at developing over 14,500 exemplar schools across India. (PTI)
Teachers and principals of the Pradhan Mantri-Schools for Rising India (PM-Shri) are likely to begin training with the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) from April 2025, News 18 has learnt.
The Union Ministry of Education (MoE) has roped in IITs and IIMs to train teachers and principals of PM-Shri on how to make teaching subjects like mathematics, science, and languages, among others, fun and interesting.
PM-Shri is a central sector scheme aimed at developing over 14,500 exemplar schools across India.
The ministry had last year told the premier institutions to prepare training modules for the teachers and school heads. While IITs will guide them on how to use science and math labs for the practical application of the subjects and how to upgrade infrastructure accordingly, the IIMs will be training teachers in leadership skills.
“We are currently doing the mapping of institutions. All 23 IITs and 21 IIMs will be collaborating with the PM-Shri schools located in each region. They will start next year around April since January-March teachers are busy with year-end examinations,” a senior ministry official said.
Under this collaboration, heads of PM-Shri schools from each district will be trained as master trainers. The training will include sharing policy recommendations, forming an innovation council and guiding in implementing initiatives.
The collaboration of these institutions is in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, which looks at education as a continuum, from pre-primary to PhD.
“We are looking at ways to have more interaction and exchange between these two levels of education — schools and higher education. This collaboration between schools and the higher education institutes will not just be limited to training. It will be an ongoing process of constant engagement for guiding and learning,” the official said.
Most of the institutes are already in talks with the schools in their region for the training.
A top official at IIT-Delhi said, “So far two schools have been in touch with us for the collaboration. The institute is working out a schedule for the same.”
According to the ministry, as of November 2024, there are 12,079 PM-Shri schools across the country up to the fourth phase of the scheme.
The Centre announced the PM-Shri scheme in the Union Budget in 2022, seeking to develop over 14,500 PM-Shri schools across India, which will showcase each of the objectives envisaged in the NEP.
Under the scheme, there is a provision of turning existing schools run by centre, state governments or local bodies, into PM-Shri schools by strengthening them. Schools must apply for the same and follow the given procedure for selection.
Since education is a subject in the concurrent list, many Opposition-ruled states were not ready to prefix PM-Shri to schools run by their governments, including, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, and Punjab. However, almost all of these states have recently agreed to sign an MoU with the Centre on implementing the scheme in their respective states, except for West Bengal.
