Training

Training had always been at the central stage in the mission activities right from its inception. Following the principles of participatory empowerment effectively and extensively employed in the campaign for decentralisation, a life related, user centred and activity based pedagogy was envisioned and tried out. Lines of attack of demystifying ICTs on the one hand and of positioning the applications within an overall systems framework on the other were the essential components of this pedagogy. Demystification of technology would tremendously improve the confidence of the trainee and improve the user interaction substantially, whereas a systems approach would put in place the change management perspective of the applications. A few training programmes for Senior Technical Assistants and the Convenors of the Block Level Expert Committees had also been conducted.

Capitalising on the initial efforts in training, training activities in IKM has advanced systematically and a sizeable quantum of content has been shaped up which includes text books, manuals, hand books, exercise books, and computer based training materials. A system of trainee and trainer evaluation has been also established. Efforts were made to explore institutional tie ups and to locate external resource persons to handle the content developed by the Mission so that volumes in delivery could be achieved and sustained. A major constraint had been the non availability of quality infrastructure for running the training sessions. The cross-section of trainees had been varied, ranging from the officials of the District Planning Offices, staff in corporations, municipalities, Directorate of Panchayats, Urban Affairs Directorate and the grama panchayats where the pilots have been initiated. The team is well set to carry out a clear line of attack for packaging training kits incorporating the overall schema, base content, enrichment material, refresher gist, evaluation content and a trainer's reference book.

Selected list of trainees >>