Commonwealth Asia TVET Delegates Visit NITTTR Chennai and NIMI Facilities, Experience Cutting-Edge Technical Education Infrastructure

Chennai, 8 October 2025

Participants of the three-day Consultative Meeting on Developing a Blended Learning Model for TVET concluded their intensive deliberations with an enriching exposure visit to two premier technical education institutions in Chennai.

The international delegation, comprising representatives from Bangladesh, Brunei, Maldives, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and India, visited both the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) Chennai and the National Instructional Media Institute (NIMI) to gain firsthand insights into state-of-the-art instructional media development and technical education infrastructure.

At NITTTR Chennai, Prof. Usha Natesan, Director, welcomed the delegates and facilitated an extensive tour of advanced facilities including the Media Production Studio, 3D Printing Laboratory, Distance and Remote Education Development (DRED) Centre, Robotics Lab, AR/VR Technology Centre, and Electric Vehicle Technology facilities. Participants experienced hands-on demonstrations of how these technologies are being integrated into contemporary TVET pedagogy.

The delegation then proceeded to NIMI, where they were received by Shri. T.V. Rajasekar, Executive Director. During the visit, participants explored NIMI's comprehensive training media production facilities for vocational training. Shri. Rajasekar provided a detailed overview of NIMI's pivotal role in developing instructional materials at the national level, highlighting recent innovations in creating high-quality, scalable training media for blended learning delivery across India's vast TVET ecosystem.

The exposure visit provided concrete, real-world examples of how cutting-edge instructional media and technology infrastructure can enhance blended learning materials—directly supporting the meeting's objective of developing a Regional Collaborative Framework for Blended TVET in Commonwealth Asia.

The consultative meeting, jointly organised by COL-CEMCA and NITTTR Chennai, aims to foster regional collaboration in scaling effective blended learning models for polytechnic and ITI institutions.