The Scheme of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching is the culmination of the Government of India’s efforts in launching a comprehensive umbrella scheme aimed at improving the quality of education at all levels by infusing quality and excellence in our teachers and teaching. Teachers are the backbone and the core of the education system.
With the fast pace of expansion of the education system in the country, both at school and higher education stages, improving quality has come to occupy center stage in educational development. Needless to say, teachers hold the key to the success of any effort in this direction. Attention, therefore, has to be focused on the preparation of teachers and their working conditions in classrooms, schools, and colleges, as also their continuous professional development, ensuring that the best talent in the country is made available to shape future generations.
With this background, the Honorable Prime Minister of India launched the Scheme of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers & Teaching on 25th December 2014 with an outlay of Rs. 900 crore over the XII Plan. After the plan period got over, the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) extended the Scheme duration up to March 2020.
The Mission addresses comprehensively all issues related to teachers, teaching, teacher preparation, professional development, curriculum design, designing and developing assessment & evaluation methodology, research in pedagogy, and developing effective pedagogy. The Mission addresses, on the one hand, current and urgent issues such as the supply of qualified teachers, attracting talent into the teaching profession and raising the quality of teaching in schools and colleges. On the other hand, the Mission pursues the long term goals of building a strong professional cadre of teachers by setting performance standards and creating top class institutional facilities for innovative teaching and professional development of teachers. The Mission focuses on these goals in a holistic manner dealing with the whole sector of education without fragmenting the programs based on levels and sectors as school, higher, technical, etc.