About Us
The Institute is located on the bank of the river Kathajodi of the thousand year old silver city of Cuttack. It is surrounded by the institutions like the High Court of Odisha, Board of Revenue , State Administrative Tribunal, Collectorate, State Bank of India, Main Branch, Ravenshaw Collegiate High School and the historic Swaraj Ashram which bears the footprint of Mahatma Gandhi. The area carries the memory of Ravenshaw College which had its beginning here and it still bears the name “Old College Lane”. The Institute has a sprawling campus of about five acres of land comprising of institute, residential and hostel complex. Its inside atmosphere is shady and green due to presence of many kinds of trees and orchards. The chirping of birds and the cool breeze of the river Kathajodi make its atmosphere pleasing and enjoyable. The remembrance of Kabibara Radhanath Roy, a great teacher and poet in whose name the institute is glorified adds to the serenity and sanctity of the institute’s atmosphere. Entrance into the institute complex creates an academic mood in every individual.
Profile of the Institute
The history of Radhanath Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Cuttack reveals that the oldest Teacher Education Institute of Odisha came into existence in 1869 as the Cuttack Normal School with the purpose of training the lower class pundits to man Primary schools as per the recommendations of Wood’s Despatch of 1854 and Stanley’s Despatch of 1859.
It began with two departments, namely, i) The Guru Training Department and ii) The Pundit Training Department with separate staff for each. The duration of training of the former was one year and that of the latter was three years. In 1875, under Sir George Campbell’s Scheme, the system of Normal School was reorganized and the Cuttack Normal School was converted into a first grade school renamed as Cuttack Training School. Initially, it admitted only middle vernacular and later matriculates to prepare teachers for middle Vernacular Schools. In 1923, after the establishment of the Cuttack Training College, the school was renamed as Secondary Training School which is now known as Radhanath Secondary Training School.
As per the Education Policy of 1913, the Cuttack Training College was established in 1923 to prepare teachers offering Licentiate in the Teaching (L.T.) course of one year duration. The minimum entry qualification for the course was graduation. The college began with 28 stipendiary seats. It was affiliated to the Patna University. The Ravenshaw Collegiate School was attached to it for practice teaching. The institute had its permanent building adjacent to the Ravenshaw Collegiate School, both in the same campus.
In 1948, when the Odisha High Courts was installed in the District Court building at Cuttack, the Cuttack Training College buildings were taken over by the District Court. As such the Cuttack Training College had to move to the premises of Radhanath Secondary Training School. The L.T. Course offered by the Cuttack Training College was renamed as Diploma in Education (D. Ed.) after 1926. After Utkal University came into existence, the Training College was affiliated to it. Utkal University adopted new regulation to upgrade the D.Ed. course to B.Ed. in 1955. Since then, Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) course is being offered by this college. In July, 1957, one year Post-Graduate course leading to Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree was introduced in this college with necessary affiliation accorded by Utkal University for 10 seats. From the academic session 2015-16, the number of M.Ed. seats has been increased to 50 to meet the increasing demand. The intake capacity for the B.Ed. course has varied from time to time and currently it is 150.
In conformity with the recommendation of the National Policy on Education (1986), Radhanath Training College, Cuttack was upgraded to the status of an Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE) with effect from 1.9.1988 in pursuance of the sanction order of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India. Consequent upon its up gradation it has been renamed as Radhanath Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Cuttack. Since then, this Institute has been functioning as a pace-setting centre in the field of Teacher Education. Its operational wavelength has been extended to teaching and research, in-service training for secondary school teachers for enrichment of content knowledge and pedagogic skills, publication and extension. The M.Phil. course in Education was introduced in the Institute in 1992 with an intake capacity of 12.