The Distance Education Programme (DEP) is a major intervention under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, created, by the MHRD, Government of India, on 1st July 2003, to implement the distance education activities under SSA in the country. Indira Gandhi National Open University is the nodal agency responsible for implementing the distance education component throughout the country. This national level project aims at providing need-based and local specific training to teachers and other elementary education functionaries associated with SSA and RTE, by employing the open distance learning mode.
The DEP-SSA focuses on the quality dimension of teacher training which is crucial for achieving quality education in the country. reinforce knowledge, motivation, commitment and professionalism amongst the teachers at the elementary education level. Through DEP-SSA, teacher training is imparted without dislocating the functionaries from their place of work and is paced as per their convenience.
DEP-SSA strives continuously and in a sustained manner to help states to achieve the goals of SSA. It is functioning effectively in the states to achieve the gigantic task of sensitizing the local functionaries such as, master trainers, coordinators of block resource centres and cluster resource centres, faculty of DIETs and SCERT. efforts of capacity building at elementary education level, through multimedia inputs which include print, audio, video, multimedia and teleconferencing, thereby facilitating work place and multiple media based training and content generation. It is a State-driven initiative, thereby plan and organize activities in close coordination with grassroot level functionaries, like Panchayati Raj institutions, school management committees, village and urban slum level, education committees, PTAs and MTAs, for effective management of elementary schools.
Open distance learning system has tremendous potential to reach out to large numbers in a short span of time and the interventions have impacted the SSA activities significantly in the country.
This is evident from the achievements of DEP-SSA in terms of professional development of teachers, classroom transactions, community mobilization, girls’ education, etc. The DEP-SSA operates in a mission mode and has thus far trained millions of teachers, teacher educators, para teachers and other functionaries.
Objectives of DEP-SSA
The Major Objectives of DEP-SSA are:
To build capacity among Institutions and people at National, State, District and Sub-district levels in Designing, Developing, Producing Distance Learning (DL) Materials.
- To orient Teachers and Teacher Educators in the potential of EduSat and Development of Software for this purpose.
- To provide necessary Technical and Financial Support in Developing Bridge Courses for out-of-school children.
- To assist in Reducing Transmission Loss by suitable DL interventions, thereby increasing Consistency and Quality of Training Efforts.
- To provide Technical Support in Designing, Developing, Producing and Delivering Distance Learning (DL) inputs and materials for training the Elementary Education personnel.
- To develop Materials and Organize Training Programmes for selected District Level Functionaries.
Coverage
- 29 States and 6 Union Territories
- Elementary Schooling (Class I-VIII)
Target Group
- Teachers
- Faculty of DIET, SCERTs, SIETs and SIEs / Teacher-Educators
- BRC / CRC Coordinators
- VEC Members/ Community Leaders and Parents
- Alternate School Functionaries/Para-Teachers
- NGOs
Salient Features of SSA
- A programme with a time frame for Universal Elementary Education.
- A response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country.
- An opportunity for promoting social justice through basic education.
- An effort at effectively involving the Panchayati Raj Institutions, School Management Committees, Village and Urban Slum Level Education Committees, Parent Teacher Associations, Mother Teacher Associations.
- Tribal Autonomous Councils and other grass-root level structures in the management of elementary schools.
- An expression of political will for Universal Elementary Education across the country.
- A partnership between the Central, State and the Local Governments.
- An opportunity for States to develop their own vision of elementary education.
Focus
- Recurrent Training of in-service teachers and other functionaries associated with SSA through Distance Learning/Training Materials including face-to-face, print, audio, video and teleconferencing for improving the quality of Elementary Education.
- Capacity Building of the personnel such as Faculty of SPOs, SCERTs, SIEs, DIETs, BRCs, CRCs responsible for Planning and Organisation of various Distance Learning activities.
- Development of Self-Learning Materials (SLMs) and Print Materials, Script Writing and Production of Audio-Video Programmes.
- Organising capacity building workshops for development of awareness material on various aspects of SSA through print, audio, video and teleconferencing.
- Reviewing and Monitoring of SSA implementation through teleconferencing.
- Organisation of National Level Seminars, Meetings and Workshops for providing platform to Teachers, Teacher Educators and other functionaries associated with universalisation of Elementary Education.
- Carrying out Feedback and Impact Studies and utilizing their findings for improving the quality of interventions under SSA.
- Training of VEC members using Multi-Media Training Package.
Activities
The DEP-SSA aims at providing initial and recurrent orientation of teachers in a cost-effective manner without dislocating them from the place of their work and without compromising with the quality.
The main activities conducted under the DEP-SSA are:
- Assistance to states in devising suitable strategies for conducting training of teachers and other functionaries through the distance mode
- Capacity-building workshops on distance learning materials
- Development of self-learning material (SLM)
- Development of audio/radio scripts
- Development of video scripts
- Development of multi-media package (MMP)
- Developing users’ manual for distance learning (DL) materials.
- Orientation and training of functionaries of SSA through teleconferencing
- Instructional radio broadcast and interactive radio programmes
DEP-SSA utilises the services of professionals as resource persons for its capacity building. If you are willing to be involved in such programmes and have expertise in any of the following fields given below, you may submit your precise details as given in the following format:
Field of expertise
- Open and distance learning (ODL) SLMs
- Audio/radio script writing and production
- Video script writing and production
- Anchoring (radio/teleconference)
- Proficiency in language(s), specially Indian languages
- Pedagogy/teacher training (specifying specialisation)
- Research and evaluation
- Integrated education for the disabled/special education
Targets
- All Children in School, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School, Back-to-School’ camp by 2003.
- All Children to complete five years of primary schooling by 2007.
- All children to complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010.
- Focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life.
- Bridge all gender, all social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary education level by 2010.
- Universal retention by 2010.
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