By Pathri Rajasekhar
Copyright deccanchronicle
NELLORE: Construction of the Regional Institute of Education (RIE) at Chowtapalem in Venkatachalam mandal of SPSR Nellore district has finally started. It is almost eight years since the then union Urban Development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and then union Human Resource Development minister Prakash Javadekar laid the foundation stone for the institute on December 27, 2016. In fact, Venkaiah Naidu had been instrumental in bringing the prestigious institution, a constituent of NCERT, to Nellore. The RIE is expected to transform teacher education and school education in southern India. The delay in its construction is because the 50.51 acres of land earmarked for the institute could not be acquired in a timely manner. AP government failed to disburse the ₹6.57 crore sanctioned in 2018 for the land. The fund sanctioned lapsed the following year as it had not been utilised in time, stalling RIE’s progress. Now, with hurdles cleared and land formally handed over, construction of RIE has commenced. NCERT has sanctioned ₹340 crore, releasing ₹50 crore to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to commence the first phase of works. Prof. B. Ramesh Babu of the Regional Institute of Education, Nellore, said Phase 1 will include an administrative block, academic building, hostel, and faculty housing, which are targeted for completion in 2027. The second phase will add an auditorium, laboratories, library, playground and other facilities. Incidentally, RIE Nellore is presently functioning from a temporary accommodation the institute has rented at the V.R. College in Nellore. It started offering courses from the 2024 academic year, beginning with an M.A. in Education Technology — a programme currently offered at only two other institutions in India, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai. It is preparing to launch integrated B. Ed., M. Ed., and Ph. D. programmes in education. The Regional Institute of Education in Nellore is the sixth RIE in the country after Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong. It is only the second in south India after Mysuru. Once it becomes fully operational, it will serve the needs of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Puducherry, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Apart from educating teachers, the institute will undertake research, develop resource materials, and build the capacity of educators. It will also play a key role in strengthening the implementation of flagship schemes, such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and introduction of ICT in schools. RIE’s Prof. Ramesh Babu disclosed that RIE Nellore has offered to train the 16,000 new teachers AP has recruited through the mega DSC drive. This institute will be a one-stop facility to train teachers from K.G. to Ph.D., giving a major boost to school and teacher education in the region. The institute will start a demonstration school (LKG to Class XII) with a 1,500-student capacity, along with a vocational training centre, sports facilities and ICT-enabled classrooms.
