New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS): A new toll-free helpline number for teachers was launched here Thursday to address issues of teaching and learning in government schools.

The helpline - 1800112028 - is for all government primary school teachers across the national capital.

It gives teachers an opportunity to engage with a dedicated team of experts and subject matter specialists who would assist them to meet the challenges they might face in classrooms.

The helpline is an initiative of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and the Tech Mahindra Foundation (TMF), the corporate social responsibility arm of technology company Tech Mahindra Limited.

"The toll-free helpline is part of our Shikshaantar programme, which is an initiative for developing an effective in-service teacher education system," said Loveleen Kacker, CEO, TMF.

"We firmly believe that the quality of teaching is one of the major determining factors that ensures retention of children in schools and hope that this helpline can work towards its betterment," Kacker said at the launch.

In April 2013, TMF had inked an MoU with EDMC to develop a model In-Service Teacher Education Institute (ITEI) in a public-private partnership mode.

In the past 18 months, it has trained over 900 teachers and 220 principals, and the helpline would be a part of the institute.

"Since its inception, ITEI has been working very well. Many teachers attended the training and the feedback we got from the teachers was very encouraging.

"We will try to reach out to more and more teachers to join the institute and call the helpline for assistance," said K. Vijayan, director-education, EDMC.