Union Human Resource Development 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 today.Speaking on the occasion the Minister 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 program. We need to create more engaging and impressive module to attract more teachers for ARPIT Programme.Union HRD Minister suggested University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that if we have to improve the standard of education then 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 analyze in every three months, so that we do not lag behind in the race of the world. We should evaluate, so we can do better in future in world ranking, he added.The Minister appreciated LEAP programme and said that we can develop administrative capabilities and leadership for organizations 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. There is no dearth of talent among our students. Surely the best results will come out, he added.
Leadership for Academicians Programme (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 weeks 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 the following 15 institutions:
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Banaras Hindu University
Jamia Miliia Islamia
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata
University of Hyderabad
NIT Trichy
University of Delhi
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Indian Institute of Technology BHU
TISS Mumbai (CALEM)
AMU (CALEM)
NIEPA (CALEM)
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 & strategizing; 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.