What is the various functions of DIET? Define the structure of a DIET.

 A District Institutute of Education and Training(DIET)is a grassroots level institution, with the district as the basic unit for educational planning, for evolving strategies for catering to district level specific needs. A DIETs mission is “to provide academic and resource support at the grassroots level for the success of various strategies and programmes being undertaken in the areas of elementary and adulteducation”. DIETs ahve been assigned a pace-setting role in two aspects viz...,

(a)              excellence in the institute’s own work; and

(b)             helping the elementary and adult education systems in the district in achieving excellence. the three main functions of a DIET are:

(1)             Training(both of induction i.e pre service level and continuing i.e in service level.

(2)             resource support(extension/guidance, development of materials,aids,evaluation tools etc.

(3)             action research .

Besides, a DIET has to devote its primary attention to the promotion of education among

(a)girls and women,

(b)Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes,

(c) Minorities,

(d)the handicapped, and

(e)other eeucationally disadvantaged and marginalized groups like working children, slum dwellers etc. with a view to enabling a DIET to attain its mission and fulfil its assigned functions it comprised the following seven barnches or units:

(1) pre-service Teacher Education(PSTE) Branch to provide induction level learning.

(2) Work-experience(WE) Branch to cater to the need for vocationalisation of education and to provide a variety of work-experience related inputs.

(3)Distrcit Resource Unit(DRU)to assist education authorities in planning and coordination of training programmes for Alternative Education/Non-formal Education personnel throughout the district and to provide neccessary support to such programmes organised outside the DIET and to act as a nodal agency in this area.

(4) in-service programmes, field interaction and innovation coordination(IFIC) Branch to identify te needs of elementary teachers in the district and organise programmes for in-service training to assess the quality and efficacy of such programmes within as well as outside the DIET,etc.

(5) Curriculum, Material Development and Evaluation(CMDE) Branch to develop curricular units, techniques and gudelines for continuous and summativelearner evaluation, tset scales and other instruments for diagnostic testing and remedial programmes etc.

(6) Education Technology (ET) Baranch to develop simple, effective and low cost teaching aids for elementary education and elementary teacher education.

(7) Planning and Management(P&M) Branch to maintain an appropriate data-base for the district for planning exercises for attaining goals related to universalisation of primary and elementary education, and national literacy mission etc.