LUCKNOW, May 6 -- With a view to accelerating education reforms, a delegation from State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Lucknow, recently visited Nagaland to study its innovative models and community-driven practices-insights that could play a key role in transforming Uttar Pradesh's district institutes of education and training (DIETs) into centres of excellence. During the five-day tour from April 26 to 30, the delegation closely saw and experienced the effective educational models, community participation and innovations there, an official said. The visit was led by Pawan Sachan, joint director, SCERT, Lucknow, along with principals of centre of excellence DIETs, SCERT officials and representatives of Mantra4Change, who not only inspected educational institutions but also visited villages and schools to understand the realities at the grassroots level. "Overall, this visit is not a magical solution but an inspiring step, which is giving new energy and vision to the ongoing journey of education reform in Uttar Pradesh," said Pawan Sachan. "This visit has brought a new perspective and inspiration to the ongoing education reform processes in Uttar Pradesh. SCERT, Lucknow, is now analysing these experiences and planning special training modules, research unit strengthening, initiatives to strengthen community participation and digital monitoring dashboards. All this will not be implemented soon but will move forward gradually under a well-planned action plan," Sachan said. "The delegation got many important documents and experiences related to Nagaland's community participation, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) model, research and evaluation system. By visiting schools like Khonoma Heritage Village (India's greenest village), Jakhama and Chichema, they saw that education there is not just an institutional responsibility but a shared effort of the entire community," he added....