The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), in collaboration with the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Delhi, has conducted a five-day capacity-building programme for teachers and school heads under the Reimagined NISHTHA initiative. The programme, held from November 2 to 6 at Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar, focused on strengthening the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 across the foundational, preparatory and middle stages of school education.

Organised under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, the training covered the National Curriculum Frameworks (NCFs), newly developed textbooks, school leadership, digital education, child-centred teaching and inclusive learning. Participants also discussed student well-being, subject-specific teaching methods and assessment practices, including the Holistic Progress Card (HPC).

NCERT Director Professor Dinesh Prasad Saklani inaugurated the programme as the chief guest. Jatin Goel, Director of SCERT Delhi, attended the inaugural session.

The training included collaborative group activities and presentations, with teachers and school heads preparing classroom action plans to apply the concepts discussed during the sessions. The programme was designed to help participants translate the policy and curriculum changes into teaching practices across different stages of school education.

The concluding session was chaired by Sridhar Srivastava, Dean (Coordination), NCERT. Addressing participants, he stressed the need to take the initiative forward in “mission mode” to ensure the effective implementation of NEP 2020 in schools.

Anand Arya and representatives from various curricular groups shared their experiences during the programme. Suniti Sanwal presented the report of the five-day training, while Sukhvinder outlined the future course of action for NISHTHA. The programme concluded with a post-training survey and discussions on applying the training outcomes in classrooms.

The initiative comes within the broader framework of NISHTHA, or the National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement, a teacher-training programme under Samagra Shiksha. NCERT describes the initiative as an integrated effort to strengthen teachers’ and school leaders’ professional competencies, with a focus on learner-centred pedagogy, learning outcomes and the diverse needs of students.

NEP 2020 recommends that every teacher and head teacher participate in at least 50 hours of continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities annually. These are intended to cover areas such as foundational literacy and numeracy, competency-based learning, assessment practices and experiential teaching methods.

The five-day Delhi programme forms part of the continuing effort to prepare teachers and school heads for changes introduced through the national education policy and curriculum frameworks.