Problems and Prospects of District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) - Cluster Resource Centre (CRC) Linkage in Kandhamal District of Odisha

Abstract

District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) is a nodal agency at district level for planning, implementation and monitoring of pedagogical activities in the entire district (Education -CIET). Under SSA programme, Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) were established to organise teachers training; provide academic support to teachers and schools on a regular basis and to help in community mobilization activities in each block of every district (EdCIL, 2010). Hence, it is the responsibility of DIETs at district level to strengthen the CRCs in each block of the district. In this paper the author intends to analyse the problems and prospects of DIET-CRC linkage in Kandhamal District of Odisha through descriptive survey approach. The study was conducted with the objectives: (i) to study the effect of DIET-CRC Linkage in Kandhamal District in terms of Capacity Building of CRCCs, Professional Development of teachers and CRCCs, Grade-specific learning outcomes and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy; (ii) to study the problems faced by the practitioners of DIET-CRC linkage (iii) to make a case study to know the status of DIET-CRC linkage in Kandhamal District. Interview schedule for DIET faculties and CRCCs, and Questionnaire for teachers were used for data collection. The data was analyzed through documentary analysis, content analysis and percentage analysis techniques. In this study it was found that (i) Training programmes was organized at District level on capacity building of CRCCs, PLC (Professional Learning Community) was also conducted for professional development of teachers and CRCCs, Training programme was also organized at DIET level on FLN. An action plan was prepared by DIET to implement FLN activities in the district. (ii) Problems like, lack of awareness of parents, organizing training programme, negative attitude of teachers, over workload, attending Block Review Meeting (BRM) at Block level are faced by practitioners of DIET-CRC linkage. (iii) All the CRCCs were oriented on FLN, Capacity building and learning outcomes.