Guwahati, June 8: Science and maths teachers of schools in Assam can look forward to upgrading their skills with IIT Guwahati being tasked to groom 10,000 of them.
Union human resource development minister Smriti Zubin Irani today asked IIT Guwahati to launch a project in association with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Assam government to train 10,000 science and maths teachers following a request from Assam education minister Sarat Barkotoky.
Irani attended the 17th convocation of IIT Guwahati where 14 PhD, 578 under-graduate and 415 post-graduate students were given their degrees.
"Assam education minister Sarat Barkotoky requested that we help train schoolteachers of science and maths. We have accepted the request. We have decided that IIT Guwahati will do a project in collaboration with NCERT and School Education Board of Assam to train 10,000 science and math teachers. Barkotoky assured that very soon the state government will sign a memorandum of understanding with IIT Guwahati," Irani said on the sidelines of the convocation.
Irani asked Barkotoky to have a district-level check to find if there is any teacher who has not got salaries and send the data to the Centre so that the latter can resolve the issue. "I have talked to Barkotoky. If there are teachers left unpaid, the state government should do a district-level check and send the data to the Centre. I think there will be no complaint after the state government reaches out to them," she said.
Irani said the Centre would hold a conference to seek suggestions from the states of the Northeast to get to know what Northeast-specific subject should be included in the National Education Policy.
Barkotoky submitted a memorandum to Irani for improvement of the education scenario of the state. He requested Centre's support to appoint more teachers in schools, special financial aid to the universities set up by the state government and grants to increase salaries of cooks appointed under the Midday Meal Scheme.
Irani congratulated the students who were given their degrees. IIT Guwahati director Gautam Biswas highlighted the achievements of the institutions, including the Centre of Excellence status to its chemistry department by the HRD ministry.
During the 2014-15 academic year, 5,186 students enrolled in IIT Guwahati, of whom 50.39 per cent are post-graduate students.
Irani said the Centre would award Rs 1 lakh to a teacher of IIT Guwahati who can show innovative thinking.
Biswas said the number of PhD students was increasing every year in IIT Guwahati. "This year has seen a big jump in numbers, growing from 1,310 students last year to 1,531 this year. The faculty:PhD students ratio stands at a satisfactory 1:4.12," he said.
The director said a total of 109 companies from various sectors have already participated in campus recruitment. He said of the 543 students from bachelor of technology and bachelor of design courses, 400 have been placed. The highest package offered to a BTech student is $129,500 per annum with an average package of Rs 12.8 lakh per annum.
