20-Dec-2021: Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

Samagra Shiksha scheme has been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.  The scheme has been continued for a period of five years with effect from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2026.

For continuation of the Samagra Shiksha scheme, a series of consultations were held with States and UTs, Line Ministries, autonomous bodies and suggestions/ observations were sought in exploring areas of modification, revisions in programmatic and revisions in financial norms and addition of interventions. The restructured/ redesigned programmatic and financial norms of the revised Samagra Shiksha scheme have been shared with all the Stakeholders. A brief note on the redesigned Samagra Shiksha is available at https://samagra.education.gov.in/docs/samagra_shiksha.pdf .

The Scheme is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through a single State Implementation Society (SIS) at the State level.

The scheme also has an inbuilt comprehensive monitoring and evaluation mechanism to ensure optimum implementation of interventions, which, inter-alia, includes, Performance Grading Index (PGI), Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+), Project Appraisal, Budgeting Achievements and Data Handling System (PRABANDH), National Achievement Surveys (NAS), Audit Mechanism, Comprehensive Review Mission (CRM), Social Audit, Third Party Monitoring through Monitoring  Institutes and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

The Samagra Shiksha Manual on Financial Management and Procurement contains detailed procedures on fund flow arrangements, accounting, financial reporting, internal control and audit, external audit, procurement procedures, etc. Annual Reports of the State Implementing Societies for implementation of the scheme at State / UT level are also laid on the Table of the Parliament every year.

Further, the Ministry of Education convenes periodic meetings with State Education Ministers and Secretaries to review the programme implementation.

29-Nov-2021: Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

The aim of the redesigned Samagra Shiksha Scheme is to universalize access to school education; to promote equity through the inclusion of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections, and to improve the quality of education across all levels of school education from pre-primary to class XII.

The major objectives of the Scheme are: (i) Support States and UTs in implementing the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020); (ii) Support States in implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009; (iii) Focus on Early Childhood Care and  Education; (iv) Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy; (v) Thrust on Holistic, Integrated, Inclusive and activity based Curriculum and Pedagogy to impart 21st century skills among the students; (vi) Provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students; (vii) Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education; (viii) Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education; (ix) Strengthening and up-gradation of State Councils for Educational Research and Training (SCERTs)/State Institutes of Education and District Institutes for Education and Training (DIET) as nodal agency for teacher training; (x) Ensuring safe, secure and conducive learning environment and maintenance of standards in schooling provisions and (xi) Promoting vocational  education.

The major interventions, across all levels of school education, proposed under the scheme are: (i) Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (iii) Gender and Equity; (iv) Inclusive Education; (v) Quality and Innovation; (vi) Financial support for Teacher Salary; (vii) Digital initiatives; (viii) RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks etc.; (ix) Support for ECCE; (x) Vocational Education; (xi) Sports and Physical Education; (xii) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training; (xiii) Monitoring; (xiv) Programme Management; and (xv) National Component.

The redesigned Samagra Shiksha recommends to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme by providing child centric interventions directly to the students through DBT mode.

Under Samagra Shiksha financial assistance is provided to States/ UTs for various ICT and Digital initiatives for setting up of ICT labs, smart classrooms including support for digital boards, virtual classrooms and DTH channels.  States have an option to avail non-recurring grant for setting up of ICT labs in schools having classes 6 to 12 up to Rs. 6.40 lakh per school and recurring grant of up to Rs. 2.40 lakh per school per annum for a period of 5 years OR non-recurring grant of Rs. 2.40 lakh for Smart Class rooms (Maximum 2 smart classrooms per school) and recurring grant of Rs. 0.38 lakh. The recurring cost includes support for instructor, E Content and Digital Resources, Charges for Electricity and Internet connectivity, etc.

4-Aug-2021: Cabinet approves continuation of Samagra Shiksha Scheme for School Education from 1st April, 2021 to 31st March, 2026

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for continuation of the revised Samagra Shiksha Scheme for a period of five years i.e., from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a total financial outlay of Rs.2,94,283.04 crore which includes Central share of Rs.1,85,398.32 crore.

Benefits: The scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Govt. and Aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level).

Details:

The Samagra Shiksha scheme is an integrated scheme for school education covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII. The scheme treats school education as a continuum and is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4). The scheme not only provides support for the implementation of the RTE Act but has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

The major interventions, across all levels of school education, proposed under the scheme are: (i) Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (iii) Gender and Equity; (iv) Inclusive Education; (v) Quality and Innovation; (vi) Financial support for Teacher Salary; (vii) Digital initiatives; (viii) RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks etc.; (ix) Support for ECCE; (x) Vocational Education; (xi) Sports and Physical Education; (xii) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training; (xiii) Monitoring; (xiv) Programme Management; and (xv) National Component.

Following new interventions have been incorporated in the revamped Samagra Shiksha based on the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020:

• In order to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT based platform over a period of time.
• The scheme will have an effective convergence architecture with various Ministries/ developmental agencies of the Centre and State Governments. The expansion of vocational education will be done in convergence with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and other Ministries providing funding for Skills. The existing infrastructure of schools and ITIs and Polytechnics will be used to ensure optimum utilization of the facilities, not only for school going children but also for out of school children.
• Provision of training of Master Trainers for training of Anganwadi workers and In-service teacher training for ECCE teachers.
• Provision of upto Rs 500 per child for Teaching Learning Materials (TLM), indigenous toys and games, play based activities per annum for pre-primary sections in Government Schools.
• NIPUN Bharat, a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to ensure that every child achieves the desired learning competencies in reading, writing and numeracy at the end of grade III and not later than grade V has been launched under the scheme with provision of TLM upto Rs 500 per child per annum, Rs 150 per teacher for teacher manuals and resources, Rs 10-20 lakh per district for assessment.
• Specific   training   modules   under   NISHTHA  by NCERT to train Secondary teachers and Primary teachers.
• Strengthening of infrastructure of schools from pre-primary to senior secondary, earlier pre-primary was excluded.
• Incinerator and sanitary pad vending machines in all girls' hostels.
• Addition of new subjects instead of Stream in existing senior secondary schools.
• Transport facility has been extended to secondary level @ upto Rs 6000 per annum.
• For out of school children at 16 to 19 years of age, support will be provided to SC, ST, disabled children, upto Rs 2000 per child per grade to complete their secondary/senior secondary levels through NIOS/SOS.
• Financial support for State Commission for Protection of Child Rights @ Rs 50 per elementary school in the state, for protection of child rights and safety.
• Holistic, 360-degree, multi-dimensional report showing progress/ uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains will be introduced in the form of Holistic Progress Card (HPC).
• Support for activities of PARAKH, a national assessment centre (Performance, Assessments, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development)
• Additional Sports grant of upto Rs. 25000 to schools in case at least 2 students of that school win a medal in Khelo India school games at the National level.
• Provision for Bagless days, school complexes, internships with local artisans, curriculum and pedagogical reforms etc. included.
• A new component Appointment of Language Teacher has been added in the scheme- components of training of teachers and bilingual books and teaching learning material added, besides support for salary of teachers.
• Provision made for all KGBVs to be upgraded to class XII.
• Enhanced financial support for existing Stand-alone Girls' Hostels for classes IX to XII (KGBV Type IV) of upto Rs 40 lakh per annum (earlier Rs 25 lakh per annum).
• Training for 3 months for inculcating self-defense skills under 'Rani Laxmibai Atma Raksha Prashikshan' and amount increased from Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 per month.
• Separate provision of stipend for CWSN girls @ Rs. 200 per month for 10 months, in addition to student component from pre-primary to senior secondary level.
• Provision of annual identification camps for CWSN at block level @Rs. 10000 per camp and equipping of Block Resource centres for rehabilitation and special training of CWSN.
• Provision for Establishment of New SCERT has been included and new DIETs in districts created upto 31st March 2020.
• Setting up of assessment cell preferably at SCERT to conduct various achievement surveys, develop test materials & item banks, training of various stakeholders & test administration, data collection analysis and report generation, etc.
• The academic support of BRCs and CRCs has been extended for pre-primary and Secondary level also.
• Support   under   Vocational   Education   extended   to Government aided schools also in addition to Government Schools and grant/number of job roles/sections linked to enrolment and demand.
• Provision of Classroom cum workshop for Vocational Education in schools serving as Hub for other schools in the neighbourhood. Provision of transport and assessment cost for schools serving as spokes has been made.
• Provision of ICT labs, Smart classrooms including support for digital boards, smart classrooms, virtual classrooms and DTH channels have been provided.
• Child tracking provision included for students of Government and Government aided schools
• Support for Social Audit covering 20% of schools per year so that all schools are covered in a period of Five years.

Implementation Strategy and Targets:

The Scheme is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through a single State Implementation Society (SIS) at the State level. At the National level, there is a Governing Council/Body headed by the Minister of Education and a Project Approval Board (PAB) headed by Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy. The Governing Council/body will be empowered to modify financial and programmatic norms and approve the detailed guidelines for implementation within the overall Framework of the scheme. Such modifications will include innovations and interventions to improve the quality of school education.

In order to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT based platform over a period of time.

The Scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Government and Aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level) by involving all stakeholders of the school ecosystem i.e. Teachers, Teacher Educators, Students, Parents, Community, School Management Committees, SCERTs, DIETs, BITEs, Block Resource Persons, Cluster Resource Persons, Volunteers for providing quality, inclusive and equitable education. Further, the scheme will have an effective convergence architecture with various Ministries/ developmental agencies of the Centre and State Governments. As envisaged in NEP 2020, there will be a greater focus on imparting skills among the students. The expansion of vocational education will be done in convergence with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and other Ministries providing funding for Skills. The existing infrastructure of schools and ITIs and Polytechnics will be used to ensure optimum utilization of the facilities, not only for school going children but also for out of school children.

Major Impacts:

The Scheme aims to universalize access to school education; to promote equity through the inclusion of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections, and to improve the quality of education across all levels of school education. The major objectives of the Scheme are to Support States and UTs in:

1. Implementing the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020);
2. Implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009;
3. Early Childhood Care and Education;
4. Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy;
5. Thrust on Holistic, Integrated, Inclusive and activity based Curriculum and Pedagogy to impart 21st century skills to the students;
6. Provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students;
7. Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education;
8. Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education;
9. Strengthening and up-gradation of State Councils for Educational Research and Training (SCERTs)/State Institutes of Education and District Institutes for Education and Training (DIET) as nodal agency for teacher training;
10. Ensuring safe, secure and conducive learning environment and maintenance of standards in schooling provisions and
11. Promoting vocational education.

AtmaNirbhar Bharat: Recognizing the crucial role of Foundational skills in the national development, it was announced under the 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat' campaign that a National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 2026-27. In this context, "National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)" has been launched on 5th July 2021 under Samagra Shiksha.

Details and progress of scheme if already running:

The Scheme is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with State and UT Governments to support  the   States  and  UTs  in  universalizing  access  and improving quality of school education across the country. The achievements of Samagra Shiksha are as follows:

• During 2018-2019 to 2020-2021, 1160 schools have been upgraded at Elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary level, 54 new residential schools/ hostels have been opened, 41180 schools have been strengthened (including Additional classrooms), 13.51 lakh schools have been provided library facilities, 13.14 lakh schools have been provided sports equipment facility, 12633 schools have been covered under ICT & Digital initiatives, 5579 schools have been covered under vocational education, 783 KGBVs have been upgraded from class VIII to class X, 925 KGBVs have been upgraded from class VIII to class XII and 11562 separate girls toilets have been constructed.
• In addition, during 2018-2019, 4.78 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 4.24 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 16.76 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(l)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.96 cr. children have been provided free uniforms, 8.72 cr. children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 0.74 cr. children have been provided remedial teaching, 14.58 lakh teachers have been trained, 69173 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.79 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and 23183 special educators have been provided financial assistance.
• Also, during 2019-2020, 5.07 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 6.78 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 21.58 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(l)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.89 cr. children have been provided free uniforms, 8.78 cr. children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 1.76 cr. children have been provided remedial teaching, 28.84 lakh teachers have been trained, 166528 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.22 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and 24030 special educators have been provided financial assistance.
• Also, during 2020-2021, 3.23 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 2.41 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 32.67 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(l)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.57 cr. children have been provided free uniforms, 8.84 cr. children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 1.44 cr. children have been provided remedial teaching, 14.32 lakh teachers have been trained, 81288 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.52 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and 22990 special educators have been provided financial assistance.

Background: Union Budget, 2018-19 has announced that school education would be treated holistically and without segmentation from pre-primary to class XII. It is, in this context, that the Department launched the Integrated Scheme for School Education, Samagra Shiksha in 2018 by subsuming the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). The scheme treats school education as a continuum and is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4). The scheme not only provides support for the implementation of the RTE Act but has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

29-Jul-2021: Scheme for promoting education in rural areas

The Government of India launched Samagra Shiksha-an Integrated Scheme for school education, w.e.f. 2018-19, as an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education, across the country including the rural areas. The scheme provides support to States and UTs for strengthening of infrastructure in schools, universal access, bringing gender equality, promoting inclusive education, quality of education, financial support for teachers’ salary, digital initiatives, entitlements under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 including uniforms and textbooks, pre-school education, vocational education, sports and physical education, setting up and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and strengthening of teacher education institutions. Also, Mid-Day-Meal is provided to students at the elementary level of education.

Further, under National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme scholarship is awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage.

26-Jul-2021: Samagra Shiksha Scheme to improve the access, infrastructure and quality of education

The major features and interventions of Samagra Shiksha  for improving the access, infrastructure and quality of education throughout the country are (i) Universalizing access to quality school education by expansion of schooling facilities in the uncovered areas through up-gradation of schools up-to senior secondary level (ii) Ensuring availability of adequate infrastructure to ensure that schools conform to the prescribed norms (iii) Annual Grant of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000/- per school for strengthening of Libraries (iv) Composite school grant of Rs. 25,000-1 Lakh to be allocated on the basis of school enrolment, out of which at-least 10% is to be spent on Swachhta Action Plan (v) Annual Grant for sports equipments at the cost of Rs. 5000-25000 per school (vi) Allocation for children with Special Needs (CwSN) of Rs. 3,500 per child per annum including a stipend of Rs. 200 per month for CWSN girls to be provided from Classes I to XII (vii) Allocation for uniforms at the rate of Rs. 600 per child per annum at elementary level (viii) Allocation for textbooks at the rate of Rs. 250/400 per child per annum at elementary level (ix) Running and Upgradation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) from Class 6-8 to Class 6-12 (x) Strengthening Teacher Education Institutions like SCERTs and DIETs to improve the quality of teachers (xi) Enhanced use of digital technology in education through smart classrooms, digital boards and DTH channels (xii) Support States & UTs for implementation of provisions of RTE Act, including reimbursement under Section 12(1)(c) of the Act (xiii) Setting up of residential schools and hostels for difficult areas and for children in difficult circumstances.

The achievements of Samagra Shiksha are as follows:

• During 2018-2019 to 2020-2021, 1160 schools have been upgraded at Elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary level, 54 new residential schools/ hostels have been opened, 41180 schools have been strengthened (including Additional classrooms), 13.51 lakh  schools have been provided library facilities,13.14 lakh schools have been provided sports equipment facility, 12633 schools have been covered under ICT & Digital initiatives, 5579 schools have been covered under vocational education, 783 KGBVs have been upgraded from class VIII to class X, 925 KGBVs have been upgraded from class VIII to class XII and 11562 separate girls toilets have been constructed.
• In addition, during 2018-2019, 4.78 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 4.24 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 16.76 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.96 cr. children have been provided free uniforms, 8.72 cr. children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 0.74 cr. children have been provided remedial teaching, 14.58 lakh teachers have been trained,  69173 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.79 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and 23183 special educators have been provided financial assistance.
• Also, during 2019-2020, 5.07 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 6.78 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 21.58 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.89 cr. children have been provided free uniforms, 8.78 cr. children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 1.76 cr. children have been provided remedial teaching, 28.84 lakh teachers have been trained,  166528 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.22 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and  24030 special educators have been provided financial assistance.
• Also, during 2020-2021, 3.23 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 2.41 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 32.67 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.57 cr. children have been provided free uniforms, 8.84 cr. children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 1.44 cr. children have been provided remedial teaching, 14.32 lakh teachers have been trained,  81288 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.52 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and  22990 special educators have been provided financial assistance.

Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education launched a National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) on 5th July 2021, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27. The Mission under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha focuses on providing access and retaining children in foundational years of schooling, teacher capacity building, development of high quality and diversified Student and Teacher Resources/Learning Materials and tracking the progress of each child in achieving learning outcomes. An approval of Rs 2688.18 crore has been given under Samagra Shiksha scheme to the States and UTs for implementation of the various interventions for Foundational Stage in 2021-22.

16-Jul-2020: Union HRD Minister and Minister of State for HRD jointly launch the first on-line NISHTHA programme for 1200 Key Resources Persons of Andhra Pradesh

The first on-line NISHTHA programme for 1200 Key Resources Persons of Andhra Pradesh was launched by Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'  and Minister of State for HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre virtually in New Delhi.

While addressing the participants the HRD Minister said that NISHTHA is a National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement at the elementary stage under Samagra Shiksha -a flagship programme of MHRD to improve learning outcomes. The Minister added that NISHTHA in face-to-face mode was launched on 21st August, 2019. Thereafter, 33 states/UTs have launched this programme in their states/UTs in collaboration under Samagra Shiksha, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. In 29 States/UTs, the NISHTHA training programme has been completed by the NCERT at the state level. In 4 States/UTs (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, J&K and Bihar), the training at the state level is still in progress. In two states, it is yet to be launched.  District level teacher training programme has been initiated in 23 States/UTs.

Shri Pokhriyal highlighted that around 23,000 Key Resource Persons and 17.5 lakh teachers and school heads have been covered under this NISHTHA face to face mode till date.

The Minister informed that due to COVID-19 pandemic situation, sudden lockdown has affected the conduct of this programme in face-to-face mode. Therefore, for providing training to remaining 24 lakh teachers and school heads, NISHTHA has been customized for online mode to be conducted through DIKSHA and NISHTHA portals by the NCERT. He further informed that Andhra Pradesh is the first state for which we are launching on-line NISHTHA programme for 1200 Key Resources Persons through NISHTHA portal. These resource persons will help in the mentoring of teachers of Andhra Pradesh, who will take on-line NISHTHA training on DIKSHA later on.

Shri Pokhriyal informed that the modules developed under NISHTHA focus on holistic development of children and hence include curriculum and inclusive education health and well-being, personal social qualities, art integrated learning, initiatives in school education, subject-specific pedagogies, ICT in teaching-learning, leadership, pre-school education, pre-vocational education, etc.  All the modules are centred around learning outcomes and, learner-centred pedagogy. He added that these modules are made interactive with reflective and engaging activities for teachers providing space to educational games, quizzes, etc. for joyful learning by the teachers and school heads, which in turn will motivate teachers to implement this in their classroom for enhancing students’ learning outcomes.

Shri Pokhriyal appreciated the efforts of MHRD and NCERT for building capacities of teachers and school heads at the elementary level across the country through NISHTHA. This will not only help in enhancing learning outcomes of students but also in their all-round development.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Dhotre said that The world has been developing at a rapid pace. In order to be in sync with this fast-evolving world, our teachers also need to constantly upgrade their world view, understanding, and methods of teaching. It is imperative on us to enable this as an ever-continuing process across the country in the most effective manner.

He added that our in-service teacher education system must be sensitive to the feedback from the teachers. And the teachers' individual innovations must be recognised for their pedagogic values and should become part of our standard teaching methods. It is also important for us that our teachers must be very actively sensitized towards diversities of our country. Then only our children can become sensitive to the huge and different diversities is of this vast nation. With these efforts only, our children can grow up with the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat, as envisaged by our honourable Prime Minister.

He further added that technology can't replace good teachers, but good teachers assisted by technology can do wonders in transforming education. Under the visionary leadership of our prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi we are committed to ensure value-based quality education assisted by technology for realising Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

NISHTHA- online includes multiple approaches for interaction. While there are text modules along with videos, there will also be live sessions by the National level Resource persons on DTH Swayam Prabha TV Channel. Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) will also be utilized for interaction with teachers. Shri Dhotre congratulated the officials of NCER and MHRD for the initiative.

In NISHTHA-face-to-face, first level training had been provided by the National Resource Group (NRG) to the Key Resource Persons (KRPs) and State Resource Persons-Leadership (SRPs-L) identified by the states/UTs. The NRG had been constituted and oriented by the NCERT drawing members from the NCERT, NIEPA and KVS. KRPs and SRPs-L had provided training directly to teachers at block level reducing the cascading effect of training. In NISHTHA –online also, Key Resource Persons will play a role of mentors for the teachers.

19-Mar-2020: Government is running ‘Samagra Shiksha’ Scheme to ensure equitable and inclusive education

Samagra Shiksha - an Integrated Scheme for School Education has been launched throughout the country as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with effect from the year 2018-19. This programme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). It is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education. It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels.

The major interventions under the scheme are: (i) Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Gender and Equity; (iii) Inclusive Education; (iv) Quality; (v) Financial support for Teacher Salary; (vi) Digital initiatives; (vii) Entitlements under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 including uniforms, textbooks etc.; (viii) Pre-school Education; (ix) Vocational Education; (x) Sports and Physical Education; (xi) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training; and (xii) Monitoring of the scheme.  Its main features, inter alia, are as follows: 

1. Universalizing access to quality school education by expansion of schooling facilities in the uncovered areas through up-gradation of schools up-to senior secondary level.
2. Ensuring availability of adequate infrastructure to ensure that schools conform to the prescribed norms.
3. Annual Grant of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000/- per school for strengthening of
   Libraries.
4. Composite school grant of Rs. 25,000-1 Lakh to be allocated on the basis of school enrolment.
5. Annual Grant for sports equipments at the cost of Rs. 5000 for Primary Schools,
   Rs. 10,000 for upper primary schools and up to Rs. 25,000 for secondary and
   senior secondary schools.
6. Allocation for children with Special Needs (CwSN) of Rs. 3,500 per child per annum including a stipend of Rs. 200 per month for CWSN girls to be provided from Classes I to XII.
7. Allocation for uniforms at the rate of Rs. 600 per child per annum.
8. Allocation for textbooks at the rate of Rs. 250/400 per child per annum.
9. Upgradation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) from Class 6-8 to
   Class 6-12.
10. Strengthening Teacher Education Institutions like SCERTs and DIETs to improve the quality of teachers.
11. Enhanced use of digital technology in education through smart classrooms, digital boards and DTH channels.
12. Support States & UTs for implementation of provisions of RTE Act, including reimbursement under Section 12(1)(c) of the Act.
13. Setting up of residential schools and hostels for difficult areas and for children in difficult circumstances.

Besides this, approval has been given to States and UTs for setting up of Youth and Eco Club in Government Schools in 2019-20 under Samagra Shiksha. Youth clubs in schools are an instrument to develop life skills, build self-esteem, develop self-confidence and resilience. Eco clubs in schools aim to empower students to participate and take up meaningful environmental activities and projects.

Further, in order to experience and celebrate the rich cultural diversity of India and to encourage experimental learning, Rangotsav was organized in schools in 2018-19. Rangotsav is an initiative of the Ministry aimed to promote experiential learning. Some of the major activities undertaken under Rangotsav are Kala Utsav, Role Play Competition, Band Competition, Bhasha Sangam and Folk dance competition.

26-Jul-2018: Government has launched Samagra Siksha to treat school education holistically without segmentation from pre-school to Class XII

In pursuance of the proposal of the Union Budget, 2018-19, to treat school education holistically without segmentation from pre-school to Class XII, the Department of School Education and Literacy has launched the Samagra Shiksha - an Integrated Scheme for School Education as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with effect from the year 2018-19. This programme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).

Samagra Shiksha is, therefore, an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education. It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels.  The Scheme would lead to an optimal utilization of budgetary allocations and effective use of human resources and institutional structures created for the erstwhile Schemes.

An allocation of Rs 75,000 crore over the period 1st April, 2018 to 31st March, 2020 has been approved for the Scheme which is a 20% increase over the current allocations. Its main features, inter alia, are as follows:
Annual Grant of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000/- per school for strengthening of Libraries.

• Composite school grant increased from Rs. 14,500-50,000 to Rs. 25,000-1 Lakh and to be allocated on the basis of school enrolment.
• Annual Grant for sports equipments at the cost of Rs. 5000 for Primary Schools, Rs. 10,000 for upper primary schools and up to Rs. 25,000 for secondary and senior secondary schools.
• Allocation for children with Special Needs (CwSN) increased from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 3,500 per child per annum including a stipend of Rs. 200 per month for CWSN girls to be provided from Classes I to XII. – earlier it was only for classes IX to XII.
• Allocation for uniforms enhanced from Rs. 400 to Rs. 600 per child per annum.
• Allocation for textbooks enhanced from Rs. 150/250 to Rs. 250/400 per child per annum.
• Upgradation of existing schools.
• Upgradation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) from Class 6-8 to Class 6-12.
• Strengthening Teacher Education Institutions like SCERTs and DIETs to improve the quality of teachers with SCERT as the nodal institution for in-service and pre-service teacher training
• Enhanced use of digital technology in education through smart classrooms, digital boards and DTH channels.

As the Scheme expands support for school education at pre-school and senior secondary levels, it provides for additional job opportunities for teachers, part-time teachers, support staff in schools, resource persons for academic support to teachers, teacher educators and administrative personnel. Further, the matters related to requirement of manpower to administer the Schemes, recruitment and the terms and conditions of service fall within the purview of the States and Union Territories.