INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
 

The NCERT acts as an agency for implementing the provisions of Bilateral Cultural Exchange Programmes (CEPs) assigned to it by the Government of India with other countries in the field of school education.

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20 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The NCERT acts as an agency for implementing the provisions of Bilateral Cultural Exchange Programmes (CEPs) assigned to it by the Government of India with other countries in the field of school edu- cation. The Council also undertakes projects and programmes sponsored by the UNESCO, APEID, UNDP, etc. and organises programmes for the foreign delegations and experts for exchange of ideas and information in the field of school education. It also sponsors its faculty mem- bers for participation in international seminars, workshops, symposia, meetings, and training programmes under the aegis of UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, etc. The NCERT, inter alia, undertakes short-term on-the-job training programmes for foreign nationals in the field of school education. It also furnishes information on various aspects of school education in India to different countries, organisations and international agencies.

Bilateral Cultural Exchange Programmes

Under the Bilateral Cultural Exchange Programmes executed by the Government of India with different countries, educational ma- terials/information were supplied to the Governments of Mauritius, Cuba, Finland, Turkey, Sudan, China and the Federal Republic of Germany. Educational reports/materials/ documents in the area of school education were received from the Governments of Turkey and the Federal Republic of Germany. The materials received under CEPs are displayed in the International Resource Centre located in the Division of Library, Documentation and Information (DLDI), NCERT.

Exchange of Experts Under CEPs

* Two Syrian educationists, Mr Raysal Harran and Mr M. Ghasan Babili visited NCERT from 16 to 22 September 1996 under the CEP 1994-96 in the area of Examination and Mathematics. They interacted with the faculty of DEME and DESM and visited the National Open School and the Central Board of Secondary Education.

* Prof. M.K. Raina, Head, DEPCG (NIE) and Dr G.N.P. Srivastava, Reader, RIE, Bhopal visited Israel from 17 to 22 December 1996 under the CEP 1994-96 in the area of Education of Gifted Children.

* Dr Nasiruddin Khan, Reader, DESSH (NIE) and Dr V. K. Sunwani, Reader, RIE, Bhubaneswar visited Syria from 12 to 25 December 1996 under the CEP 1994-96 for sharing experiences in Developing and Distributing School Books and Teaching Aids in English Language.

Foreign Visitors, to the NCERT

During 1996-97, the WERT received the following educationists/experts/delegations from different countries.

* H.E. Mrs Genet Zewdic, Minister of Education and some other Ministers from Ethiopia visited NCERT on 26 June 1996

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and held discussions with the Director and some other senior functionaries.

* Dr Hanna Morgenthalar Aufder Mauer, Zurich, Switzerland visited NCERT on 7 January 1997. She was briefed about the functioning and activities of the NCERT. She interacted with the faculty of the DTEE and DERPP, NCERT.

* A group of senior school Principals from Sri Lanka (under training in Educational Management at NIEPA) visited NCERT on 30 May 1996. They were briefed about the functions and activities of the constituents of the NCERT. The delegates visited CIET also.

* Another group of senior school Principals from Sri Lanka (under training in Educational Management at NIEPA) visited NCERT on 1 October 1996. They were briefed about the functions and activities of the NCERT.

* A delegation comprising 12 participants (government officials and NGOs from Nepal) visited DWS, NCERT on 12 December 1996 to get acquainted with various activities and programmes on Women's Studies.

* A 15-student faculty of Nedderud Nideregsende Skole, Norway visited the Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar under UNESCO/ASP Cultural Exchange Programme from 9 to 14 February 1997.

* An eight-member delegation from Bangladesh visited NCERT from 16 to 21 September 1996. They interacted on matters related to reform and implementation of higher secondary education.

* A two-week study visit programme on Management of Education was organised from 7 to 21 October 1996 for 13-member del- egation from the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh.

* A four-member delegation from the Directorate of Primary Education, Bangladesh visited NCERT on 29 October 1996. The delegates were briefed about the functions and activities of the constituents of the NCERT. They held discussions with the faculty of the DWS and DPSEE.

* A three-member delegation from Australia visited NCERT on 5 November 1996. They held discussions about the functions and activities of the constituents of the NCERT.

* A four-member delegation from the Budhanilkanta Public School, Kathmandu, Nepal visited NCERT on 14 June 1996. The delegates held discussions with senior faculty members of DESM, DESSH, DEME and DPSEE, NCERT in the area of curriculum planning and development in India.

* A group of trainees undergoing six-month Diploma Course in NIEPA visited NCERT on 12 November 1996. They were briefed about the functions and activities of the NCERT. The trainees visited CIET, DLDI, Publication Division and DCETA and held discussions with senior faculty members.

* A delegation of 12 primary and secondary school teachers sponsored by the Asia Education Foundation, Australia visited NCERT on 6 January 1997. They interacted with the faculty of NIE on various issues related to school education. They were briefed about the recent developments in teaching-learning strategies in pre-school education, non- formal education, elementary education, population education, social sciences, etc.

* Mr MA. Qureshi, Specialist in Technical and Vocational Education, ACEID, UNESCOPROAP, Bangkok visited India from 26 to 28 September 1996 and interacted with concerned government officials and PSSCIVE faculty regarding UNEVOC activities.

* A 15-member delegation of Junior High School Head Teachers and Vice-Principals from Bangladesh visited DTEE, NCERT on 6 February 1996 and interacted with the faculty on matters related to teacher education in India.

* A 13-member delegation of senior educational officials from the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh visited DTEE, NCERT on 29 October 1996 and interacted with the faculty on matters related to teacher training programmes.

* A four-member delegation from Nepal visited DESM, NCERT on 14 November 1996 and discussed matters related to curriculum planning and development in India.

Participation of NCERT Faculty Members in International Programmes

* Prof. A.K. Sharma, Director, NCERT participated in the Conference of the Boards of Secondary Education at Kathmandu, Nepal from 6 to 8 July 1996.

* Prof. A.K. Sharma, Director, NCERT

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attended the 45th Session of the International Conference on Education at Geneva from 30 September to 15 October 1996. The theme of the conference was Strengthening of the Role of Teachers in the Changing World.

* Prof. A.K. Sharma, Director, NCERT participated in the workshop on 'Development of Drug Prevention Curriculum for Schools' at Islamabad, Pakistan from 24 to 28 February 1997.

* Prof. A.N. Maheshwari, Joint Director, NCERT attended a workshop on 'Planning Design and Management of Distance Learning for a Changing World' organised at Paris from 9 to 16 June 1996 by the International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP) in cooperation with the UNESCO.

* Prof. A.N. Maheshwari, Joint Director, NCERT participated in the Second UNESCOACED International Conference on Reengineering Education for Change: Educational Innovation for Development' and the Regional Workshop on 'APEID -Network for Associated Centres: Future Directions' at Bangkok from 8 to 15 December 1996.

* Prof. Arun K. Mishra, Joint Director, PSSCIVE. NCERT participated in the UNEVOC Technical Working Group Meeting on Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) , Teacher Education Curriculum Development and Adaptation at Islamabad, Pakistan from 13 to 17 October 1996.

* Prof. Arun K. Mishra, Joint Director, PSSCIVE, NCERT attended an Expert Group Meeting on Improving Access to Girls and Women from Least Developed Countries in Asia and the Pacific to Science, Technical and Vocational Education at Dhaka, Bangladesh from 16 to 24 December 1996.

* Dr A.K. Sacheti, Professor, PSSCIVE, NCERT participated in the International Workshop on Technical and Vocational Edu- cation and Training (TVET) for Rural Development at Ottawa, Canada from 14 to 20 September 1996.

* Dr A.K. Sacheti, Professor, PSSCIVE, NCERT participated in the National Training Workshop on Infrastructure Development for TVE at Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 24 to 30 July 1996.

* Dr (Ms) Poonam Agarwal, Professor, PSSCIVE, NCERT attended the DEET/ UNESCO-PROAP Project Meeting of Trainer Training in Vocational Education and Workplace Literacy at Bangkok from 20 to 24 May 1996.

* Dr D.P. Singh, Reader, PSSCIVE, NCERT participated in the International Seminar on 'Environment Protection in Training and Technology for Crafts Occupations: Adaptation of Curricula at Mannheim, Germany from 17 June to 26 July 1996.

* Dr G.L. Arora, Head, DTEE participated in the 1996 APEID Regional Seminar on Universalisation of Elementary Education: Improving Effectiveness and Quality of Primary Education through the Strengthening and Upgrading of Teacher Performance and Professional Competencies in the Asia Pacific Region at Hiroshima, Japan from 22 to 31 July 1996.

* Dr G.L. Arora, Head, DTEE, participated in the Third Regional Workshop on Continuing Education for Development at Kualalumpur, Malaysia from 19 to 28 August 1996.

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* Dr AK Srivastava, Senior Lecturer, DEPFE, participated in the Advance Research Training Seminar (ARTS) 1996 at Sherbrooke, Canada from 22 to 25 August 1996. In this seminar, an ECCE programme called MISC (More Sensitive Intelligent Children/Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Care-givers) was discussed.

* Dr (Smt.) Sandhya Paranjpe, Senior Lecturer, DPEPCRG, NCERT participated in the 16th APEID Regional Seminar on Translation of Children with SEN into Communities at Yokosuku, Japan from 11 to 16 November 1996.

* Dr S. K. Singh Gautam, Reader, DPEPCRG, NCERT received training for Development of Educational Management Information System (EMIS) at London from I I January to 14 March 1997. The programme was sponsored by ODA through the British Council.

* Smt. Pushplata Kumar and Shri B.K. Shah, Assistant Engineers, CIET received advanced training in Maintenance of CCD Camera and Betacam Recorders at Hong Kong from 24 February to 7 March 1997.

* Shri Manoj Shukla, Producer, CIET participated in the Fourth Asian Workshop on Educational Television Programmes at Manila, Philippines from 24 to 25 February 1997 to share experiences about making ETV programmes and promoting excel- lence in ETV.

* Dr S.S. Pandey, Lecturer, RIE, Ajmer underwent training in the U.K. in the area of Environmental Education from 18 March to 7 June 1996.

* Dr V.V. Anand, Reader, RIE, Mysore underwent training in the U.K. in the area of Environmental Education from 18 March to 7 June 1996.

* Dr (Smt.) Reeta Sharma, Lecturer, RIE, Bhopal underwent training in the U.K. in the area of Environmental Education from 18 March to 7 June 1996.

* Dr. K. Dorasami, Reader, RIE, Mysore participated in the annual workshop on Education Policy Analysis and Planning conducted by Harvard Institute of International Development, Massachusets, U.S.A. from 16 June to 19 July 1996.

* Dr S.K. Goel, Reader, RIE, Bhubaneswar participated in the Tenth World Congress of IASSID at Helsinki (Finland) from 8 to 13 July 1996.

* Shri G.S. Hati, Reader, RIE, Bhubaneswar participated in the APNIEVE Expert Group Meeting held at Malaka (Malaysia) from 1 to 5 July 1996.

* Dr D.K. Bhattacharjee, Principal, RIE, Bhubaneswar visited Norway from 23 October to 6 November 1996 to participate in a programme under UNESCO/ASP School Friendship Exchange Cooperation between the Regional Institute of Educa- tion, Bhubaneswar and the Nadderud College of Norway.

* Prof. Arjun Dev, Head, DESSH attended the Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Commonwealth Project 'Young People's Understanding of Human Rights' and Commonwealth Teachers Conference on Human Rights at Coleraine, Northern Ireland and Stoke Rochford, England from 28 May to 2 June 1996.

* Prof. Arjun Dev, Head, DESSH attended the meeting of the National Coordinators of the UNESCO-IBE Project on 'What Education for What Citizenship' at Manila, Philippines from 14 to 18 October 1996.

* Prof Arjun Dev, Head, DESSH attended the meeting of Steering Committee of the Commonwealth Project Young Prople's Understanding of Human Rights at Gaborone, Botswana from 18 to 20 March 1997.

* Dr (Smt.) Anupam Ahuja, Senior Lecturer, DEGSN worked as Consultant for UNESCO-PROAP in APEID Mobile Training Team in Special Education at Tashkent Republic of Uzbekistan from 18 to 22 November 1996.

* Dr (Smt.) Anupam Ahuja, Senior Lecturer, DEGSN worked as Consultant for UNESCO at Windhosk, Namibia from 7 to 19 November 1996.

* Prof. Usha Nayar, Head, DWS participated in the Ninth World Congress on Comparative Education at Sydney, Australia from 1 to 6 July 1997 and presented a paper en-titled 'Education of Girls in India'.

* Dr S. Jaireth, Senior Lecturer, DWS participated in the Ninth World Congress on Comparative Education at Sydney, Australia from 1 to 6 July 1997 and presented a paper entitled 'Drop-out Girls in India'.

* Prof. Venita Kaul, Head, DPSEE participated in a six-week training programme entitled, 'Child-to-Child Approach to Health Education' at the Institute of Education, London in July 1996.

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* Dr. Daljit Gupta, Reader, DPSEE participated in the training programme in 'Esculea Nueva' Strategies (Strategies Adopted by Teachers in Handling Multigrades) at Colombia from 22 September to 3 October 1996.

* Dr V. P. Gupta, Reader, DPSEE participated in a five- week course on Educational Policy Analysis and Policy Planning' conducted by the Harvard Institute of International Development in the U.S.A. from 16 June to 19 July 1996.

* Shri P.K. Das, Lecturer, RIE, Bhubaneswar visited Norway under UNESCO/ASP Cultural Exchange Programme from 23 October to 7 November 1996. 125