Pokhriyal launches Leadership for Academicians Programme & ARPIT 2019

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) – 2019 and Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT) – 2019 under Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT) in New Delhi on September 16, 2019.

Speaking on the occasion, Pokhriyal said that teachers are the base of education system and ARPIT is a great platform for teachers to learn about latest developments in their field and develop their teaching qualities. He said that for better results we need to increase the participation of teachers in this programme. We need to create more engaging and impressive module to attract more teachers for ARPIT Programme.

He told University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that if we have to improve the standard of education, we have to focus on new things in the field of education. He further said that we have vision and mission, we just need better coordination. “We should analyse in every three months, so that we do not lag behind in the  world,” Pokhriyal said.

The Minister appreciated LEAP programme and said that we can develop administrative capabilities and leadership for organisations through this programme. He further said that these leaders have the responsibility of bringing institutions to the world ranking. The Minister also suggested that the courses of Artificial Intelligence from school education to Higher education level should be designed according to the needs of industrial sector.

LEAP- To build higher managerial capabilities of existing higher education leaders and administrators and to draw fresh talent into the management of higher education systems, a National Initiative “Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP)” was launched to design and deliver a structured scheme of leadership development for HEIs. LEAP is a three-week leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and one week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public funded higher education institutions. The main objective is to prepare second tier academic heads that are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future. LEAP is being implemented through 15 institutions:

The mandatory eligibility conditions are:  minimum 8 years of experience as Professor;  3 years administrative experience; Impeccable Integrity; High academic standing preferably 30 publications in ‘SCOPUS’ indexed international journals or UGC approved journals; and age below 58 years.

A maximum of Rs 10 Lakhs per participant (including foreign training) is approved and each training institution signs MoUs with its foreign counterpart. LEAP training institution prepares information brochures with relevant information, such as structure of the programme,  Curriculum, Resource Persons, Pedagogical aspects, Assessment and evaluation and scheduled dates for Indian & foreign training. Each training module will have a batch of 30 trainees.

At the end of the training, the trainees are evaluated on ten critical leadership attributes, namely,  visioning & strategising; communication skills; people management; conflict management & handling stress; decision making; Teaching Learning, research and innovation; financial planning and management; administrative skills; understanding students; and collaboration.  In 2018-19, out of 15 LEAP approved Institutions, 12 have completed LEAP training with 280 participants , two are ongoing and DU is expected to conduct only one round, according to a PIB release.

In 2019-20, a centralized online selection process has been put in place and is now open for applying at http://nmtt.gov.in/ . The last date of registration is September 25, 2019 and the institution-wise selections will be available by September 27, 2019.