INVC NEWS
New Delhi,
The 35th National Symposium of Heads of Police Training Institutions concluded here today. Justice Madan B. Lokur, Judge, Supreme Court of India addressed the Valedictory Session. The Symposium was organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). In keeping with the contemporary and future policing needs of the country, the central theme of the Training Symposium was “Promoting E-Learning for Police Training”.
Delivering the Valedictory Address, Justice Madan B. Lokur said that the training has assumed vital significance since new challenges are arising everyday with the emergence of communication & IT technology. These include the rise of cyber crimes and understanding of cyber laws, dealing with data breach cases such as compromised data related to hundreds of bank card customers, allowing free speech and curtailing rumour mongering on social media. Justice Lokur said there is acute lack of appreciation amongst the investigators and prosecutors of contemporary laws such as the Juvenile Justice Act and many a times it has created challenges such as dealing with consenting teenagers.
Advocating newer training methods such as video conferencing, learning by illustrative videos and distance learning programmes, Justice Lokur said the conventional lecturing has become obsolete and a study says trainees grasp only 7-8% of knowledge imparted through lectures. He said there are several obstacles to adult learning such as situational barriers including family commitments and commuting, low motivation and embarrassment undergoing training at an advanced age, institutional obstacles such as lack of funding and infrastructure bottlenecks, besides psychological and personal barriers.
Speaking on the occasion, Director General, BPR&D, Dr. Meeran C. Borwankar said e-learning will help bridge the existing huge gap between recruitment and training in the Police Forces. Stressing on including Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) in training modules, she said most States are not spending even 2% of their Policing Budget towards Training.
Additional DG, BPR&D, Shri Parvez Hayat and Director (Training), BPR&D, Ms. S. Sundari Nanda were present during the Valedictory Session.
Dr. Kiran Bedi, Lt. Governor, Puducherry delivered the Inaugural Address at the Symposium yesterday. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Kiran Bedi said that e-learning, which is the theme of this year’s symposium, cuts the cost, time and distance. She said that e-learning is an integral part of Digital India initiative of the Central Government.
The two-day Symposium had various session including sessions on ‘Challenges in Teaching Technology to Adult Learners’, ‘Successful E-Learning projects’ and ‘Government funded resources available for E- Learning’. In the Symposium, more than 100 senior police officers of the rank of DGPs/ADGPs/IGPs of States and UTs, CBI, NIA, BSF, CRPF, CAPFs discussed and deliberated on police training issues to develop a roadmap to achieve excellence in training. Subject experts from various organisations including National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), MDI Gurugram, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), RML Hospital, National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), MHA, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also take part in the Symposium.
The BPR&D has been organizing the National Symposium of Heads of Police Training Institutions annually to discuss and deliberate on police training issues to achieve excellence in training. In the Training Symposium, policies and practices are re-visited to improve the training to all ranks of police officers across the country.
