Lok Sabha Question No. 38 (STARRED), answered on 2018-02-05
Subject: Standard/Quality of Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: ANANDRAO  ADSUL, Shrirang Appa Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 38 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 th  February, 2018

## Standard/Quality of Education

## †*38. SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL: SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

## Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  falling  standard/quality  of education in various States of the country on account of shortage of trained teachers and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is also aware that the teachers in the schools are lacking basic knowledge especially in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  proposes  some  changes  in  the  format  for training  of  the  teachers  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  steps taken in this regard so far;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  has  issued  any  directives  to  the  States  for improvement in standard/quality of education and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to provide quality education in villages at par with the cities?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a) to (e):        A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 38 ASKED BY SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL & SHRI SHRIRANG  APPA  BARNE  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  05.02.2018  REGARDING STANDARD/QUALITYOF EDUCATION.

(a)  to  (c):  Section  23(1)  of  the  Right  of  Children  to  Free  and  Compulsory  Education (RTE)Act, 2009 stipulates that any person possessing such minimum qualifications, as laid  down  by  an  academic  authority,  authorized  by  the  Central  Government,  by notification,  shall  be  eligible  for  appointment  as  a  teacher. Accordingly,  the  Central Government  has  notified  the  National  Council  for  T eacher  Education  (NCTE)  as academic  authority  for  recruitment  of  teachers.  Additionally,  NCTE,  mandated  for providing  quality  teacher  education  to  the  prospective  teachers,  has  set  norms  and standards for infrastructure, instructional facilities and qualification and experience of faculty for the teacher education institutions in which teachers are educated. For this purpose, NCTE has revised its Recognition, Norms and Procedure, Regulations 2014.

Additionally Centrally Sponsored Scheme on T eacher Education (CSSTE) aims to  provide  infrastructural  and  institutional  support  to  Government  T eacher  Education Institutions (TEIs). T o emphasize the focus on quality interventions and teacher training, CSSTE  provides  for  programme  related  interventions  such  as  Capacity  Building, Specific  projects  for  academic  activities,  Induction  Training  of  T eacher  Educators, Programme & Activities, Faculty Development and Technology Support, etc. to Teacher Education Institutes viz. State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), District  Institutes  of  Education  and  Training  (DIET s),  Block  Institutes  of  Education (BITEs), Colleges of T eacher Education (CTEs) and Institute of Advanced Studies in Education(IASEs).

Further, Section23(2) of the RTE Act has been amended to extend the period of in-service  training  for  untrained  elementary  teachers  to  31st  March,  2019  in  all  the states including the States of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.As per the above amendment,  all  untrained  in-service  teachers  working  in  Government,  Governmentaided, and Private un-aided schools should acquire minimum qualification as laid down by an academic authority, authorized by the Central Government, by 31st March, 2019. The  National  Institute  of  Open  Schooling  (NIOS)  has  been  entrusted  to  conduct  this training through ODL(Open Distance Learning) mode. The online D.El.Ed. course has started  from  3rd  October,  2017.  More  than  13  Lakh  teachers  have  joined  these courses.

The Central Government, through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (RMSA)  supports  the  State  Governments  and  UT Administrations on several interventions to improve teaching standards, including inter alia; regular in-service teachers' training, induction training for newly recruited teachers, training on ICT Component, Inclusive Education, Gender Sensitization and Adolescent Education.  Under  both  SSA  and  RMSA,  the  focus  is  to  give  subject  specific,  need based  and  relevant  in  service  teacher  training  to  both  elementary  and  secondary teachers  for  their  professional  development.  The  trainings  are  provided  through  the institutional structure of State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) at State level, District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) at District level, Block Resource Centers / Cluster Resource Centers at Block / Cluster level.

(d)  &  (e):  The  National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (NCERT) conducts periodic national surveys of learning achievement of children in classes III, V, VIII and X. Four rounds of National Achievement Survey(NAS) have been conducted so far  for  class  V  and  three  rounds  for  classes  III  &  VIII.  These  reveal  improvement  in learning  achievement  levels  of  pupils,  in  identified  subjects  from  first  round  to  fourth round.  Since  only  first  round  of  NAS  has  been  conducted  at  Class  X  level,  it  is  not possible to comment on the comparative learning achievement or decline of students of Standard X. Further, a National Achievement Survey based on learning outcomes has been conducted on 13th November, 2017 with a sample frame upto district level to enable  states/UT s  to  identify  gaps  in  learning  outcomes  at  district  level  and  design strategies to address those gaps.

In addition to above, the Central Government, supports States and UT s on early grade reading, writing & comprehension, and early Mathematics programmes through a sub-programme of SSA namely 'Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat' (PBBB). Further, the Government  has launched Rashtriya  Aavishkar  Abhiyan  (RAA)  programme  on 09.07.2015, inter alia, as a subcomponent of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik  Shiksha Abhiyan  (RMSA),  to  motivate  and  engage  children  of  the  age group from 6-18 years in Science, Mathematics and T echnology through observation, experimentation,  inference  drawing,  model  building,  etc.  both  through  inside  and outside classroom activities.

Further, in order to focus on quality education, the Central rules to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE)Act have been amended to include reference on class-wise, subject-wise Learning Outcomes. The Learning Outcomes for each class in Languages (Hindi, English and Urdu), Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science up to the elementary stage have, accordingly, been finalized and shared with all States and UT s. These would serve as a guideline for State and UT s to ensure that all children acquire appropriate learning level. Government has also introduced a bill to amend RTE Act, 2009 to allow Detention at Std. 5 th and Std. 8 th .

Moreover, interventions like  motivation  and  awareness  programmes, remedial teaching, self-defence training for girls, provision of separate toilets for girls and boys, etc. are also supported under RMSA to improve quality of school education at secondary level. Further, interventions such as Science fair/Exhibition and Talent Search at district level; mathematics and science kits to schools, visit to higher  institution  of  students  and  learning  enhancement  of  students  are  also approved. Some of the ICT initiatives i.e. e-pathshala, NROER, Shaala Darpan, Shaala Siddhi, GIS Mapping have been taken for improving quality of education.

All the above mentioned quality interventions are provided at par to schools of rural and urban area. Additionally, the central Government has issued advisories to  States  and  UT s  for  redeployment  of  teachers  and  to  ensure  that  all  school teachers should spend adequate time serving in rural areas through a transparent policy.

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