JOURNEY OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Rajya Shiksha Kendra, Bhopal, was identified as the School Leadership Academy in the State of Madhya Pradesh in 2017. The State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT), Bhopal, was designated as the School Leadership Academy from the financial year 2024–2025.

The SLA, Madhya Pradesh, has constituted State Resource Group (SRG) members to carry out the plans and activities of the National Centre for School Leadership (NCSL). Through the Leadership Academy, leadership programmes and module development activities are carried out in the School Education Department, covering stakeholders from Headmasters to state-level officers. Programmes provided by the Directorate of Public Instruction, Rajya Shiksha Kendra, and the Tribal Welfare Department are also organised under this initiative.

The SLA has translated a set of 14 self-instructional modules, originally developed by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), into Hindi. These modules, titled “Leadership Pathways to Continuous Professional Development”, are designed to support school leaders in their professional growth.

Under the STAR Project, based on NIEPA modules, training was conducted at the state level in four batches for 491 District Resource Groups (DRGs). These DRGs, in turn, trained Headmasters in their respective districts. In the year 2024–2025, a total of 73,222 Headmasters in Madhya Pradesh received leadership-based training. The Madhya Pradesh School Leadership Academy also provided leadership training to Headmasters of the Tribal Department based on NIEPA modules.

From time to time, NIEPA–NCSL organised various workshops on topics such as Good Governance, NRPW, and Research Policy and Planning for Improving School Functioning and the Quality of Education. These workshops were attended by SLA Madhya Pradesh.

A 76-member M.P. SLA Core Group was formed. Officers from NIEPA–NCSL, the nodal officers of M.P. SLA, SIEMAT officers, and DIET training in-charges are its members. A District Core Group of Madhya Pradesh was also formed with the following structure:

Chairman: Principal of DIET (DPC in districts without DIET)
Secretary: Training In-charge of DIET / APC-Mobilization
Ex-Officio Members: 10 DRGs trained in leadership training from the state

Members:

• ADPC – Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
• APC – Mobilization
• One BAC and one CAC from each development block (who have provided or received leadership-based training)

These groups regularly undertake activities such as:

• Module and content development
• Collection of leadership-related videos and success stories for national conferences and NIEPA seminars
• Impact studies of leadership at the district and block levels
• Meetings with core groups to strengthen leadership activities

Different leadership training programmes were conducted across the state. After completing the training, school heads brought academic, physical, and social improvements in their schools. To recognise these efforts at the state and national levels, the Madhya Pradesh School Leadership Academy (SLA) compiled them as success stories.

For this work, DIETs were made the nodal agencies at the district level. Each DIET collected five success stories and three videos from every block. After review and training at the DIET level, three success stories and two videos were sent to the State School Leadership Academy. The State School Leadership Academy further refined these and sent them to NIEPA–NCSL conferences and seminars.

Under the STAR Project, the Government of India has planned a one-week residential training programme for school leaders of Madhya Pradesh at various higher education and management institutes across the country, including IIM Indore, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Raipur, IIM Lucknow, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

The Regional Review and Planning Workshop of Leadership Academies from five states—Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh—was organised in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, from 29 December to 31 December 2025 by NIEPA–NCSL. The workshop focused on reviewing the tasks assigned by NIEPA and planning future initiatives with officials involved in planning and leadership-related work under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, NCERT, and SIEMAT.