Jammu and Kashmir to have SCERT on lines of NCERT

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], Aug 29 : The Administrative Council (AC), which met under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, has given its approval to the establishment of State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) by merging State Institutes of Education Jammu and Kashmir.
An official press release said that SCERT, being apex academic authority of the UT, has been mandated to assist and advise the government in implementation of policies and programmes for human resource development in the field of education, human and child development and national integration, on the analogy of NCERT- an apex academic authority at national level.
The Council will also look after various aspects of curriculum development, health and physical education, guidance and counselling and inclusive and special education, it said.
The Administrative Council assigned the charge of Director SCERT to Chairman JKBOSE (Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education), as an interim measure.
The new body has been envisaged to meet the challenges in teachers' education arising from the recent spatial and numerical expansion of schooling facilities at elementary and secondary levels along with corresponding skill enhancement of teachers through proper orientation and training.
The release said that SCERT will enable the Department of School Education to train 1.34 lakh in-service teachers through professional training, capacity building programmes, induction courses, contentment enrichment and contemporary trends and techniques for ensuring quality education.
To provide academic and resource support at the grass-root level, SCERT will function through the existing District Institute of Education and Trainings (DIETS), which have been brought under its administrative control.