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Unit 10: Agencies of Teacher Education and their Functions—SCERT, DIET

10.4 District Institute of Educational Training: An Introduction Notes

Likewise in the area of adult education, this support was being provided by the Central Directorate
of Adult Education at the national level, and by State Resource Centres (SRCs) at the State level.
Below the State level, there were elementary teacher education institutions but their activities were
confined mostly to pre-service teacher education. The physical, human and academic resources of
most of the institutions were inadequate even for this limited role. They also tended to adopt
teaching practices, which were not in consonance with the ones they prescribed to prospective
teachers. There were certain larger problems.
10.4.1 Historical Background
By the provisions of NPE on teacher education, a Centrally sponsored Scheme of Restructuring and
Reorganization of Teacher Education was approved in October 1987. One of the five components of
the Scheme was establishment of DIETs. Draft guidelines for implementing the DIET component
were circulated to States in October 1987 and have, together with certain subsequent circulars,
formed the basis for its implementation so far. Till October 1989, Central assistance had been
sanctioned under the Scheme for setting up a total of 216 DIETs in the country.
The present document purports to consolidate, amplify and revise the existing guidelines in regard
to DIETs. With this, all earlier guidelines on the subject would stand superseded.
10.4.2 Mission and Role

"To provide academic and resource support at the grass-roots level for the success of the various
strategies and programmes being undertaken in the areas of elementary and adult education, with
special reference to the following objectives: -
Elementary Education
• Universalisation of Primary/Elementary Education.
• Adult Education
• NLM targets in regard to functional literacy in the 15-35 age group.
The above is a general mission statement. It will have to be translated into specific goals for the
DIET, so as to suit the needs of individual states and districts, and will be ultimately operationalised
through specific performance norms set for individual DIETs.

10.5 Structure of a DIET:

Looking to the above functions, a DIET would need to have staff strength in the following areas:
(1) Foundations of Education and Pedagogy:
(2) The subjects taught at the Elementary stages; namely
(i) Languages taught at the elementary level in the district (these may be two, three or even
four, depending on the number of language which are introduced in a State at the elementary
stage, and factors like bilingual character of a district)
(ii) Mathematics
(iii) Environmental Studies -Social Science
(iv) Environmental Studies -Science

10.6 Features of DIET

Pursuit of excellence would have to inform all activities of the DIETs, in which context, it will have
two inter-related aspects:-
(i) Excellence in the Institute's own work, and
(ii) Helping the elementary and adult education systems in the district, in achieving excellence.
As far as the first aspect is concerned, efforts will be made to provide to DIETs all necessary physical
and manpower resources. But it will be for them to harness these and other available resources in

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