Bhubaneswar, Dec. 29: Chief Secretary Bijay Pattnaik has asked the school and mass education department to introduce modern technological tools such as e-library and other audio-visual methods for professional training of teachers, sources at Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA) said.

This decision was taken by Pattnaik, who is also the chairman of OPEPA, at the valedictory ceremony of a four-day workshop on developing a composite plan for in-service teachers’ training conducted last week by the department in association with various teachers’ training institutes run by it. He said teachers’ training was a neglected area and hence was necessary to provide proper training modules to enhance their skills.

Secretary of school and mass education department, Aparajita Sarangi, said the state was striving for quality education and to achieve this goal, specific training modules have been prepared for elementary and secondary school teachers for the academic session of 2011-12.

With a central assistance of Rs 56 crore, the plan will first be implemented at the district level and gradually encompass all blocks.

Around 7,500 resource persons will train approximately 1.56 lakh teachers at the primary level and 70,000 teachers at the secondary level.

Every teacher will undergo at least two subject-based and two theme-based training programmes. A school development plan for all heads of schools will also be implemented.

This plan for identification of master trainers and their training, preparation of training modules, support materials and rationalization of norms of expenditure would be devised by teacher training institutes such as State Council Educational Research and Training (SCERT), OPEPA, Board of Secondary Education, English Language Teaching Institute, Oriya Bhasa Pratisthan and District Institute for Education and Training.