National Policy on Education 1986 (NPE-86)?

The Policy on Education 1986 (NPE-86): Education has continued to evolve, diversify and extend its reach and coverage since the dawn of human history. Every country develops its system of education to express and promote its unique socio-cultural identity and also to meet the challenges of the times. There are moments in history when a new direction has to be given to an age-old process.

That moment is today. The country has reached a stage in its economic and technical development when a major effort must be made to derive the maximum benefit from the assets already created and to ensure that the fruits of change reach all sections.

Education is the highway to that goal:

The National Policy of 1968 marked a significant step in the history of education in post-Independence India. It aimed to promote national progress a sense of common citizenship and culture, and to strengthen national integration. It laid stress on the need for a radical reconstruction of the education system, to improve its quality at all stages, and gave much greater attention to science and technology, the cultivation of moral values and a closer relation between education and the life of the people.

In the National Policy, there is utter importance given to the teacher education. The Government and the community should endeavor to create conditions, which will help motivate and inspire teachers on constructive and creative lines. Teachers should have the freedom to innovate, to devise appropriate methods of communication and activities relevant to the needs and capabilities of and the concerns of the community. District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) will be established with the capability to organize pservice and in-service courses for elementary school teachers and for the personnel working in non-formal and adult education.

As DIETs get established, sub-standard institutions will be phased, out. Selected Secondary Teacher Training Colleges will be upgraded to complement the work of State Councils of Educational Research and Training. The National Council of Teacher Education will be provided the necessary resources and capability to accredit institutions of teacher education and provide guidance regarding curricula and methods. Networking arrangements will be created between institutions of teacher education and university departments of education.