The Education Commission (1964-66) had observed that “of all the factors that influences the quality of education ....the quality, competence & character of the teachers are undoubtedly the most significance”. But these in turn depends substantially on the quality of training and other support provided to them. Until adoption of NPE this support in the area of Elementary Education was being provided largely at National and State level only by Institution like NCERT, NIEPA & SCERTs. Like wise in the area of Adult Education, this support was being provided by the Central Directorate of Adult Education at the national level and the State Resource Centers (SRCs) at the state level. Below the state level there are Elementary Teacher Education Institutions but their activities were confined mostly to Pre-Service teacher education. Thus their roles were limited. There were larger problems like outdated teaching practice & course of study.

By the time of adoption of NPE, Elementary and Adult Education System were too vast to be adequately supported by National and State level agencies alone. Therefore NPE accordingly envisaged addition of third district level tier to support the system in the shape of DIETs in every district of the country. With the introduction of this third layer of support system expectation would be of wider quantitative and hopefully qualitative coverage as DIETs would be closer to the field and therefore more alive to the problems and needs.

The mission of the DIETs is to provide academic and resource support to the grass root level for the success of the various strategies and programme being undertaken in the areas of elementary & Adult Education