In Chhattisgarh, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth and its partner resource organisations – Digantar, Jaipur, Eklavya, Hoshangabad and Vidya Bhawan Education Resource Centre, Udaipur — have created the Chhattisgarh Education Resource Centre (CERC), a robust education resource centre that supports the government education institutions to strengthen the quality of elementary education in the state.

Over the course ofICICI Foundation’s engagement with the state of Chhattisgarh, it became apparent that the ongoing work of developing textbooks and building the capacities of Chhattisgarh’s state educational institutions required an ongoing and continuous local presence in the state. To meet this need, the Chhattisgarh Education Resource Centre (CERC) was set up in June 2007 with the support ofICICI Foundation, Eklavya, Digantar and Vidya Bhawan Education Resource Centre.

The Chhattisgarh Education Resource Centre (CERC) consists of a core team of full-time local staff, who were initially guided and supported by resource partners working within the state. The CERC engages with and builds capacities of educational institutions in the state and develops a common platform with NGOs. It also works to involve competent resource personnel from inside and outside the state to facilitate educational reform.

• Currently the CERC is actively working with the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT) to develop the teacher education curriculum (Diploma in Education, D.Ed). Together the organisations are reforming the D.Ed curriculum to enable student teachers to develop into reflective practitioners.
• CERC has also worked with the DIET and has started holding study forums for students pursuing the two-year D.Ed programme. The study forums provide space and encouragement for student teachers to develop as confident speakers, to reflect on educational, social and political issues, and to engage in open debates – important abilities for reflective teachers.