The State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has taken up over 60 research projects to be completed in the current year.
These include State and district-level research studies on topics such as a mid-term assessment survey of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation scheme and the availability and utilisation of ICT (information and communications technology) material at the elementary level in a particular district.
The Directorate of Teacher Education Research and Training was upgraded to become the SCERT in 2012, and its scope was then widened.
S. Kannappan,director, SCERT, said that the studies will be completed by the end of the financial year, and the findings will be shared with Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, among other concerned stakeholders to help in assessment and policy making. The impact of training programmes conducted by SCERT so far will also be studied to determine how they can be improved.
“The initial amount necessary for field studies and development of tools has already been released,” he said. He said that funding for the research projects is shared by the Centre and the State in a 75:25 ratio.
The 13-member State Research Cell, constituted in July this year, has been working closely to approve of research topics and validate tools such as questionnaires and observation schedules, officials said.
On October 3 and 4, District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) faculty, who will be conducting the studies, got their tools validated from experts. “During the workshop, we revised two topics, and have given a week’s time for some to send in the corrected tool. The focus, this time, is on the outcome. Earlier researchers would take up research topics, but some would not get results because the scope of their tools was limited then,” an SCERT official said.
While the district-level studies will be taken up by the respective DIET faculty, the seven State-level research studies will be taken up by SCERT, said Vincent D. Paul, who is coordinating the research projects.
The SCERT’s role is similar to the National Council for Educational Research and Training.
