The basket of courses offered by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta is getting broader by the day.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the premier B-school has drawn up a three-day training programme for curriculum planners, educators, teachers, decision-makers, policy-makers and school administrators.

“There is a growing demand for Indian manpower, which should continue, but the quality of education is very important. This programme basically aims at providing ways in which quality can be maintained in schools,” said C. Paduranga Bhatta, one of the programme directors.

The topics to be covered at the three-day paid course, kicking off on May 14, will include roles for teachers and students, pedagogical approaches, educational content, modes of delivery of lessons and work culture in schools.

“Teachers have to go beyond classroom teaching. They should take an interest in students and should be able to tell students where they fit,” said Bhatta, rolling out a recipe for success.

The next edition of the course — offered as part of the management development programmes — for effective teaching at higher education institutes is scheduled between July 23 and 25.

From training all-round managers to ensuring efficient teaching in classrooms — the B-school is expanding the scale and scope of its reach.

In 2006-2007, the institute organised 42 short-duration management development programmes. Around 700 participated in these courses.

Last week, a long-duration programme for retired officers of the armed forces was flagged off and now the authorities are set to launch another in August.

The B-school, in collaboration with the Indian Institutes of Technology, Kanpur and Madras, will launch another programme to develop human resources for the manufacturing sector.

A brainchild of the ministry of human resources development, the programme is meant for promising engineers — potential top management candidates — working in the manufacturing sector.

Besides the new courses, the institute has on offer a slew of short-term programmes on leadership and team-building, and managerial effectiveness in community and sexual health.

“Executive education is an important activity of the institute and it has seen a significant increase in the past few years,” Shekhar Chaudhuri, director IIM Calcutta, reiterated while making his convocation speech earlier this month.

All these short-term courses come for a price, ranging between Rs 16,000 and Rs 75,000, depending on the term and content of the programme. As the demand for these courses is growing among executives, the authorities are drawing up plans to introduce more.