Author: Vikas Pathak
Publication: Hindustan Times 
Date: January 12, 2015
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/now-teachers-to-learn-yoga/article1-1306141.aspx

The repertoire of skills that school teachers will bring to their jobs in the coming years will include yoga.

This apart, those trained to be teachers will also be skilled in information and communication technology, apart from being trained in gender concerns and in requirements of children with special needs.

Come 2015-16, these skills will be woven into the curricula of teacher education courses across the country.

“Yoga includes physical, mental and emotional aspects. We have taken inputs from the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga so as to have a standardised framework,” said an official of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), the statutory body dealing with teacher education. “How much time to assign to yoga is up to the institutions. But we have laid the framework.”

At a recent conclave of state education ministers here, secretary (school education and literacy) Vrinda Sarup had told state education ministers: “Yoga, ICT, gender and requirements of children with special needs should be in the curricula of teacher education programmes.” The conclave had come weeks after NCTE had passed regulations for teacher education that came into force in December. An HRD ministry official told HT that these changes were aimed at having teachers who could contribute to holistic development of students. “We should train prospective teachers to be sensitive to gender issues and children with special needs,” the official said. The other changes include two-year B.Ed. and M.Ed. courses, abolition of M.Ed. in open and distance learning mode and integrated BA/M.Ed. and BSc/M.Ed. courses.

NCTE preparing refresher packages