The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune have signed an agreement to develop a joint programme to enable IISER students to specialise in science and mathematics teaching.
According to an official statement issued Monday, the programme that brings together IISER Pune’s expertise in science and TISS’s expertise in teacher education has been planned in order to prepare expert science teachers and to realise the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020’s vision of multidisciplinarity and bringing excellence into the teaching profession. During the course of the programme, students will be exposed to cutting-edge teaching and research from both institutions.
The agreement was signed on December 9 in the presence of IISER director Prof Jayant B Udgaonkar and TISS director Prof Shalini Bharat, who said TISS had always addressed national development needs. “This collaboration with IISER Pune enables us to work together to offer a game-changing multidisciplinary programme to students, in alignment with the vision of the NEP 2020. I am certain that the proposed joint programme will create a new generation of science educators and scholars,” he said, adding that the prestigious Mumbai institute’s Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education had made steady progress in the field.
For his part, Prof Udgaonkar said, “TISS and IISER Pune are entering into an agreement to develop a programme in teacher education in science and mathematics. The agreement will help strengthen the quality of science education in India through collaboration in teaching and research. With this, the two institutes will be able to pool expertise in very diverse areas–social sciences and natural sciences–which are complementary for teacher education.”
