Agartala, 21st September 2026 : With the objective of ensuring quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the newly introduced pre-primary schools from the academic year 2026–27, a five-day training programme was inaugurated today under the initiative of the Directorate of Elementary Education. The training programme, organised for teachers from Khowai, Sepahijala and West Tripura District, will continue until 25 September 2026. The workshop is being held at Maharani Tulsibati Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Agartala.
The inaugural session of the training was attended by Dr. Samit Roy Choudhury, Director, Elementary Education, Harshita Biswas, Joint Director, Elementary Education; Abhijit Samajpati, Branch Officer, Pre-Primary Cell; and Kuheli Debbarma, Principal, Maharani Tulsibati Girls’ Higher Secondary School.
Addressing the inaugural session, Director Dr. Samit Roy Choudhury emphasised the importance of creating a classroom and school environment conducive to the holistic development of children. He stated that teachers have a crucial responsibility in ensuring that children are able to learn in a safe, joyful and fear-free environment. He further highlighted that when a child enters school at the age of three, providing quality support for the child’s mental, social, practical and behavioural development, along with a strong foundation in basic education, can help children grow into educated, responsible and well-rounded citizens in the future.
Harshita Biswas, Joint Director, Elementary Education, in her address, stated that the implementation of ECCE has brought a gradual shift from the conventional lecture-based teaching approach towards activity-based and child-centred learning. As a result, children are provided with opportunities to learn actively and joyfully through play and various engaging activities. She urged the participating teachers to make effective use of the knowledge and skills acquired during the five-day training in their respective schools for the qualitative improvement of pre-primary education. She also emphasised the importance of understanding child psychology and the individual needs of children while imparting education.
Kuheli Debbarma, Principal of Maharani Tulsibati Girls’ Higher Secondary School, in her address, stated that the real success of teaching begins when children look forward to coming to school every day with joy and develop a warm and positive relationship with their teachers. She emphasised that a joyful and supportive environment lays the foundation for meaningful and constructive learning among children.
The welcome address was delivered by Abhijit Samajpati, Branch Officer, Pre-Primary Cell. He urged the participating teachers to attend the training programme with discipline, sincerity and a strong sense of responsibility. He stated that the five-day training would cover various domains of pre-primary education, Teaching-Learning Materials (TLM), puppet-making and the use of puppetry as an effective teaching-learning tool in the classroom.
A total of 87 teachers are participating in the five-day training programme, including 46 teachers from Khowai District, 34 from Sepahijala District and 7 from West Tripura District. These teachers have been entrusted with the responsibility of newly introduced pre-primary sections in their respective schools during the academic year 2026–27. A total of 10 Master Trainers are participating in the training programme and will provide hands-on training to the teachers on various aspects of ECCE.
In accordance with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the training programme focuses on promoting child-centred, joyful and activity-based learning approaches. Special sessions will be conducted on puppetry-based teaching strategies, child psychology, classroom management, play-based learning, age-appropriate assessment methods and school observation. The trainees will also participate in practical sessions on puppet-making. On the second day of the training, Dr. Hillol Mukherjee, Assistant Professor, Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE), will conduct a special session on child psychology.
It may be mentioned that Tripura has made significant progress in recent years in expanding pre-primary education. Department has been taking continuous steps to provide the necessary infrastructure, teacher training and teaching-learning materials to create a joyful, safe and developmentally appropriate learning environment for young children. The five-day training programme is expected to serve as an important step towards the effective and quality implementation of the ECCE programme in the newly established pre-primary schools across the State.
