Context

Union Ministry of Human Resource Development launches Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP) and Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT) for higher education faculty.

About

(a)Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP)

It is a flagship leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and 1 week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public funded higher education institutions.

Objective

• The main objective is to prepare second tier academic heads that are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future.
• The programme would provide senior faculty, with high academic credentials, the required leadership and managerial skills including skills of problem-solving, handling stress, team building work, conflict management, developing communication skills and understanding.
• The programme will provide training for coping with the complexity and challenges of governance in higher education institutions, financial & general administration.

Implementation

• The implementation will be through 15 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) top ranked Indian institutions.

The foreign universities identified for the training are also within the top 100 in the world global rankings.

National Institutional Ranking Framework  This framework under Ministry of Human Resources outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country. It is uses broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions of India. The parameters broadly cover “Teaching, Learning and Resources,” “Research and Professional Practices,” “Graduation Outcomes,” “Outreach and Inclusivity,” and “Perception.”

(b) Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT)

It is a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the Massive Open Online Courses platform SWAYAM. It is meant for all in-service teachers and faculties in order to enhance their career prospects. The refresher course will make them acquaint with new subjects and learning processes.

About the refresher courses

• The courses cover a diverse range of topics such as Indian culture & Heritage Studies, Pedagogical Innovations & Research Methodology, Latest Trends in Pedagogy and Assessment, Personal-Emotional Development and Counselling, Neural Networks etc.
• It is a 40 hour module with 20 hours of video content and 20 hours of non-video content.
• They are offered in a highly flexible format and can be done at one’s own pace and time.
• All faculties who have successfully completed the online refresher course will be certified.

Implementation

• For implementing, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase.
• These institutions are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in the discipline, new & emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies.

National Resource Centres (NRCs): They are located in a mixed range of institutions such as: Central Universities, IISc, IUCAA, IITs, IISERs, NITs State Universities under the Ministry’s Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching UGC’s Human Resource Development Centres National Institutes for Technical Teachers Training SWAYAM: It is a programme initiated by GOI and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality. The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. SWAYAM seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.

Significance

These two initiatives-LEAP and ARPIT are extremely significant as they will create transformative teachers and leaders. There is a need for constant improvisation to keep abreast of recent developments which will enrich the teaching learning experiences. Combining academic and administrative leadership is an equal requirement for those heading educational institutions LEAP will help in creating better higher education leaders of tomorrow. Through ARPIT, the NRCs will revolutionize professional development of faculty by catering to massive numbers by leveraging ICT and online technology platform of SWAYAM.