NISTHA: The idea of thinking different

Special thanks to the deputy commissioners, DEEOs for organizing such a wonderful programme like NISTHA in their districts. The ground-level management will play a vital role in the success of the programme. National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) the programme aims to train all government school heads and teachers as the first-level counsellors to be alert and responsive to the needs of the students, in addition to promoting joyful learning and taking special care of the requirements of special children. It expects to improve awareness and upgrade their skills on various aspects related to learning outcomes, competency-based learning and testing, learner-centred pedagogy, school safety and security etc. The prominent features of this integrated programme are activity-based modules, including educational games and quizzes, social-emotional learning, motivational interactions, team building, preparation for the school-based assessment, in-built continuous feedback mechanism, online monitoring and support system, training need and impact analysis (pre-and post-training). The demography and topography of Assam is unique. It comprises hills, plains and forests on the one hand and different language speakers and cultures etc. on the other. This diversity is the State’s distinctiveness and accordingly, the requirements are diverse. Owing to geographical constraints, limited availability of space and infrastructure, availability of electricity, mobile and internet challenges and insufficient ICT resources – physical and human both, at district and sub-district level, necessitates “Nishtha”, close coordination among stakeholders to accomplish the objectives in letter and spirit, leading to scintillate the faces of children by their mesmerizing learning outcome. Now, it is the duty of teachers to execute the programme in their classroom. NISHTHA necessitates ‘Nishtha’ from the bottom of the heart.

Partha Pratim Mazumder

Kazipara, Nalbari