School Innovation Ambassador Training Program

• The Union Education Minister along with Tribal Affairs Minister launched the ‘School Innovation Ambassador Training Program’.
• The program is jointly designed by Innovation Cell of Education Ministry and AICTE for 50,000 School Teachers.
• It is based on the Education Ministry’s model of “Innovation Ambassador Training Program for Higher Educational Institution’s faculty members”.

About School Innovation Ambassador Program:

• New Education Policy has laid huge emphasis on promoting out of the box thinking amongst students.
• To achieve this goal, the role of a teacher is highly significant.
• School Innovation Ambassador program has been conceptualised by Ministry of Education Innovation Cell and AICTE to train the school teachers across country
• The trained teachers will nurture the young school students on Ideation, IPR, product development, design thinking, problem solving and critical thinking.

• The teachers will be trained on the following five modules:

1. Design Thinking & Innovation
2. Idea generation & Ideal hand-holding
3. Intellectual Property Rights
4. Product / Prototype development
5. Finance, HR and Sales

• Selection criteria for teachers:

1. Involved in developing innovative student projects.
2. Has passion for working with students on developing new ideas.
3. Demonstrable problem-solving skills.
4. Good communication and analytical Skills
5. Participated in any science/innovation exhibition, hackathons and idea competitions etc.

Role of the ‘Innovation Ambassadors’

1. Help in creating the culture of Innovation in their respective schools
2. Mentor the teachers and students of their respective schools and nearby schools
3. Provide support to other schools as resource person
4. Spread the message of innovation and start-ups among the students and faculties.
5. Act as an evaluator for Idea Competitions conducted at national level.
6. Act as a Mentor for the national level program on Innovation and related activities.

About All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE):

• It was set up in November 1945
• It serves as a national-level Apex Advisory Body to conduct a survey on the facilities available for technical education and to promote development in the country in a coordinated and integrated manner.
• Objectives

1. Promotion of Quality in Technical Education.
2. Planning and Coordinated Development of Technical Education System.
3. Regulations and Maintenance of Norms and Standards.