The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has evolved a programme for improving the teaching abilities of all pharmacy teachers holding bachelors degree in pharmacy.
The move is intended to ensure that no teacher will be losing his job when the diploma courses are scrapped and the institutions are upgraded as degree colleges in the coming years.
It is known that there are 344 diploma institutions with a combined admission capacity of 20,000 in India. The number of degree and post-graduate colleges are 162 and 42, with total number of seats of 11,000 and 1,020, respectively. There are about 6,000 teachers who are presently working in diploma institutions.
The PCI decision is meant for the benefit of the majority of them, as only 25 percent among them are possessing post-graduate degrees. The teachers would be acquiring their postgraduate degrees through the QIP programmes for teachers introduced by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It is known that the programme is to be extended to the polytechnic teachers also from the next academic year.
As per the programme, the teachers who would be taking the M Pharm degrees within three years of the implementation of ER 2001, can work as full time teachers in degree colleges.
However, there is a protection clause also in ER 2001 which permits the diploma holder to continue as the teacher, but without any chances of promotions.
According to Prof Kokate, president PCI, the Kakatiya University in Andhra Pradesh has been selected as the national coordination centre for the QIP programmes for pharmacy teachers.
He said that PCI will conduct similar quality upgradation programmes for the registered diploma and degree holders who are into other services also. "The Continuing Education Programmes meant for community pharmacists is going to be regular affair. This year we have organised 74 workshops for working pharmacists and 11 more are to come within the next two months. " he said.
The PCI is also having discussions with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and expects a regular financial support from it for conducting the CEP regularly.
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