Punjab Government on Friday virtually launched an advanced training of government school teachers by Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali.

The state School Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said the Department has decided to strengthen its liaison with the premier institutions of the state for training and guidance purposes which would benefit the students in the field of academics, sports, and scholarships as well.

Singla, during the virtual program, also kick-started distribution of appointment letters to as many as 2,527 newly-recruited teachers.

The Minister said that with the reforms and initiatives introduced by the Congress Government, Punjab has become the leader of school education in the country. “The government and teachers, officers and other staff of the Education Department are committed to retain the top level position in the upcoming years also,” he said adding that during the tough times of Covid-19, the teachers have ensured online education to the students despite many hardships.

Singla said that it was a proud moment for the Education Department that a premier institute of the country has extended its help to provide professional training to the principals and heads of the government schools. “The Education Department would extend the program to all the teachers of the state as it would enhance their capabilities and teaching skills,” he said.

“Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP), in collaboration with the Department of School Education, has organized and conducted several training workshops on ‘Leadership and Motivation’ for directly recruited Headmasters of Government High Schools through the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC),” he said.

He said that these workshops have been a part of an overarching project ‘Improving Quality of Education in Punjab’, that BIPP has undertaken with the Department. “It is for the very first time that a training of this kind has been planned and implemented at this scale and a total of 152 Principals, 672 Headmasters, including 317 under Rashtriya Madhyamik School Abhiyan (RMSA) have been trained,” he added.

Taking the initiative to the next level, the Department has created an online training module which will be available for access to over 10,000 school heads, principals, lecturers, BPEOs, CHT and HTs from all over Punjab.

“While these modules will have a larger reach, they will also provide flexibility during the pandemic situation. The ultimate goal is to build the capacity of school principals so that they can create a nurturing holistic learning ecosystem in the schools by engaging with a variety of stakeholders,” he added.