GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING/ORIENTATION OF FACULTY ON INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS

1. Background

Integration of IKS in the curriculum at various levels involves an introduction to IKS, it’s Scope & History, and amalgamation of fundamental IKS concepts into modern textbooks, leading to developing Indian Thought Models based on available IKS literature, and their application into various contemporary problems solving methods. Understanding that teacher training is important to the success of NEP 2020, UGC constituted a committee of experts to recommend strategies by formulating guidelines for effective teacher training/orientation in IKS. Teacher training/orientation is typically conducted by various agencies such as HRDC, and PMMMNMTT ( Malviya Mission). The faculty in the UGC- recognized institutions are required to attend a mandatory induction program (175 hours) and periodically attend the refresher courses which may include subject-specific courses. The refresher courses are required for the continued professional advancement of the faculty in UGC-recognized academic institutions.

• Guidelines

The needs of faculty coming into the induction program are slightly different from the ones coming for the refresher courses. Faculty coming into the induction program are experts in their topics but may not have deep knowledge about the IKS. The freshly inducted faculty members attending this program may not have the experience of teaching large classes. Therefore, the guidelines are specified separately for the induction/orientation program and the refresher courses. The major purpose of all such training programs shall be to generate a positive attitude towards IKS and promote interest in knowing and exploring more, rather than covering a lot of content related to IKS.

2.1  Induction program

1. Because of the innate nature of IKS, the induction program should not be limited to the faculty’s discipline. The content should be broad-based and cover introductory material on all aspects. It would enable teachers to explore the most fundamental ideas that have shaped IKS over the centuries.
2. The IKS Induction programme should ideally be of 30 hours in a 10-10-10 format. The induction module should be divided broadly into three parts:
   1. Overview of IKS: philosophy, cross-disciplinarity, main approaches and methods, the place of Indian civilization among other classical civilizations and inter-civilizational exchanges, sources of authentic material
   1. Case studies: to illustrate a few remarkable accomplishments in diverse fields
   1. Pedagogy related to IKS: Innovative methods to teach IKS including innovative methods propounded by NEP, avoidance of bookish teaching, the use of audiovisual material, possible field studies, some exposure to a few primary sources, possible activities, and micro-research projects, innovative ways to evaluate learning in IKS, avoidance of common pitfalls such as exaggeration or glorification.
3. The IKS-related content should be allocated a minimum of 10% of the total time spent during the induction program. This will translate to about 17.5-20 hours for a typical induction program.
4. All faculty must be exposed to common underlying philosophical foundations across disciplines in the IKS.
5. At least one to two lectures on the fundamental vocabulary of IKS must be conducted to familiarize faculty with the common terms used in IKS.
6. Faculty must be exposed to the primary texts (Sutra Text) of IKS which is required for understanding the sources and origin of IKS. It would help teachers to understand the primary purpose of the text along with the objective, layout, concise and precise way (sutras) of presenting ideas, content, etc.
7. Common pedagogical template should be used for designing IKS subjects for every discipline to maintain consistency and quality in the instruction.
8. For each module, ready access to a wide range of primary and secondary resources must be provided to enable teachers to understand the continuous and vibrant tradition of IKS. These materials may be developed by a team of subject experts and provided to teachers so that there is consistency in the source material used for instruction. Extreme care must be taken to ensure the authenticity and scholarly nature of the content that may be developed for the orientation/induction and refresher courses. Unverified or unverifiable contents must not be used in any case.
9. A database of authentic books, papers, articles, videos should be created. Faculty should be invited to contribute to the database, with a mechanism for peer review to assess the quality of the submitted material.
10. A list of IKS content available in regional languages must be compiled and made available for the benefit of non-English medium teachers.

1. A field visit to nearby IKS related prominent places such as Temples, Gurukuls, Historical sites, Arts & Crafts communities, Ayurvedic Healing Centers, Astronomical Observatories (Jantar Mantar) would enable teachers to appreciate the various manifestations of IKS should be organized.
2. Sharing the life and work of contemporary original thinkers who have made seminal contributions in their field, using IKS framework, would motivate teachers to explore various dimensions of IKS.
3. The faculty must be informed about the opportunities to conduct original research in the IKS domain.
4. Courses must be developed in a range of subjects across natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, medicine, agriculture, community knowledge systems, fine and performing arts, vocational skills etc, which have IKS content. The courses must have a clear mapping of the traditional subjects in IKS with the modern subjects such a chemistry, mathematics, physics, agriculture, etc.
5. For orienting prospective teachers towards IKS, initiatives should be made to revise UGC syllabus (General Paper) so as to pay sufficient weightage to the IKS content in respective subjects. This would enable prospective teachers preparing for UGC NET examination to get familiarized with IKS. The same should be done in CSIR NET, GATE exams etc.

2.2  Refresher courses

• All faculty must be exposed to a common underlying philosophical foundation across disciplines in the IKS.
• At least one to two lectures on the fundamental vocabulary of IKS must be conducted to familiarize faculty with the common terms used in IKS.
• A strong emphasis must be placed on providing exposure to the primary texts (Sutra Text) of IKS which is required for deeper understanding.
• The refresher courses must focus on the development of courses under the following categories:
  • Multidisciplinary courses: These courses should serve faculty from at least two disciplines that are closely related. The courses should provide a greater depth and allow the faculty to explore the interdisciplinary aspects of the IKS and to appreciate

the cross-disciplinary connections. The primary aim of these courses is to sensitize teachers about the possible interdisciplinary education which is a key aspect of the NEP 2020. As an example, a course on mathematics and astronomy could be conducted and discuss the simultaneous development of mathematical tools and astronomy models in India. This course could serve the needs of faculty in mathematics and astronomy disciplines. A second example course could be a course on civil engineering, architectural engineering and town planning serving the disciplines of civil engineering, architecture and town planning.

• Discipline-specific courses: The discipline specific courses must be focused on a particular subject. These courses are designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the discipline in the IKS. The course should be usually designed using multiple source texts as the reference material. For example, a course on chemistry could use Rasaratnakara, Rasaratnasamucchaya, Sarveshwararasayana etc. The ayurvedic concepts of Dravyaguna shastra with the underlying philosophy from the Vaisheshika-Darshana can be taught together with their correlations to biochemistry, biophysics, and process engineering. A course for chemistry students can focus on the aspects related to the herbo-metal and mineral substances from a Dravyaguna perspective while a course for Physics students can focus more on the classification of materials as per the Vaisheshika-Darshana. Designing the course content is a challenge that needs to be carefully thought out by a team of experts in both traditional shastras and modern subjects as most of the IKS subjects do not map cleanly to their modern counterparts. For example, a chemistry-related book such as Rasaratnakara will have a discussion on laboratory construction and furnace construction in addition to discussing purely the chemistry aspects.
  • Specialized courses: Specialized courses are to be designed for providing in-depth and comprehensive knowledge of a particular text. These courses should be open to those faculty who would like to develop specific expertise in a subject on a particular text and must be taught preferably in person by the experts. The courses must be designed to convey the primary purpose of the text along with objective, layout, concise and precise way (sutraic) of presenting ideas, content, etc. It may be envisioned that these

courses may only be taught at particular centers where experts are available, and these courses could become the ‘USP’ of a particular center.

• Courses must be developed in a range of subjects across natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, medicine, agriculture, community knowledge systems, fine and performing arts, vocational skills, etc, which have IKS content. The courses must have a clear mapping of the traditional subjects in IKS with the modern subjects such as chemistry, mathematics, physics, agriculture, etc.

2.3  Suggestions for effective implementation

• To connect with the oral tradition of IKS, one practical session on the ancient technique of memorization, with a few examples from primary texts, would be helpful.
• A few immersive sessions on Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda, Classical Music should be arranged to give teachers some grounding in the experiential aspects of IKS.
• One session on Ayurveda with reference to self-exploration (Ayurvedic Personality Test) will be very helpful at a personal level.
• The higher education institutions with the help of the MoE-IKS cell and all scholars may build a database of authentic books, papers, articles, videos. Faculty members may be invited to contribute to the database, with a mechanism for peer review to assess the quality of the submitted material.
• Master trainer program could be implemented under Malviya Mission. This would be more cost effective and will bring efficiency in implementation of IKS in right spirit as proposed in these guidelines.
• Malviya mission centres could be designated as the nodal agencies for preparing reading materials and recorded lectures for training of faculty on the various subjects mentioned in the document for FIP & Refresher Courses and Short term programs.

A suggested roadmap of effective implementation is shown below