Lok Sabha Question No. 389 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-05
Subject: Accountability in Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 389 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 th  FEBRAURY, 2018

## Accountability in Education

## †389.      SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

## SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

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

- (a) whether the Government is taking any steps to ensure quality, equality, access, accountability in the education sector and to make it cost effective;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;

(c)  whether  the  Government  is  also  implementing  any  scheme  for  the  promotion  of  physical education in schools besides Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat and Sugamya Bharat; and

- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) and (b): The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, effective from 1st April, 2010, mandates that every child of the age of six to fourteen years shall have the right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till the completion of his or her elementary  education.  In  order  to  focus  on  quality  education,  the  Central  RTE  Rules  have  been amended  on  20th  February,  2017  to  include  reference  to  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 UTs. These would serve as a guideline for States and UTs to ensure that all children acquire the appropriate learning level.

A National Achievement Survey based on these Learning Outcomes was conducted on 13th  November,  2017  for  around  22  lakh  students  from  around  1,10,000  schools  across  700 districts of India. The detailed district-wise results would serve as a tool to understand what exactly the  child  should  be  learning  in  various  classes,  how  to  teach  this  through  activities  and  how  to measure and ensure that children have reached the required level.

The RTE Act, 2009 was amended in 2017 to ensure that all teachers acquire the minimum qualifications  prescribed  under  the  Act  by  31st  March,  2019  to  reinforce  the  Government's

emphasis on improvement of quality of elementary education. Around 13 lakh in-service untrained teachers  have  registered  under  the  online  training  course  offered  by  National  Institute  of  Open Schooling (NIOS).

The  Government of India is currently implementing the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) for the universalization of elementary education and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)  programme for the universalization of secondary education. Under SSA, the State Governments and  UT Administrations  are  supported  on  several  interventions  to  improve  teaching  standards,  including regular  in-service  teachers'  training,  induction  training  for  newly  recruited  teachers,  recruitment  of additional teachers for improving pupil-teacher ratios, academic support for teachers through block and  cluster  resource  centres,  and  teacher  and  school  grants  for  development  of  appropriate teaching-learning materials, etc. Additionally , the Central Government supports States/UTs on early grade  reading,  writing  &  comprehension,  and  early  Mathematics  programmes  through  a  subprogramme  namely  'Padhe  Bharat  Badhe  Bharat'  (PBBB)  in  classes  I  and  II.  Further  the Government has launched Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) programme on 09.07.2015, inter alia, as a sub-component of SSA and RMSA to motivate and engage children of the age group from 6-18  years  in  Science,  Mathematics  and  Technology  through  observation,  experimentation, inference drawing, model building, etc. both through inside and outside classroom activities.

In order to provide quality education to students at the secondary level, various interventions are funded under the RMSA including a provision for : (i) additional teachers to improve Pupil Teacher Ratio,  (ii)  induction  and  in-service  training  for  Principals,  Teachers  ,  Master  Trainers  and  Key Resource  Persons,  (iii)  Maths  and  Science  kits,  (iv)  Lab  equipments,  (v)  Special  teaching  for learning  enhancement,  (vi)  ICT  facilities  in  schools,  (vii)  introduction  of  vocational  education component at the secondary level.

RMSA and SSA also provide a number of incentives to encourage enrolment and retention of children  in  schools.    These  include  enhancing  access  to  primary ,  upper  primary  &  secondary schools, strengthening school infrastructure like school building, additional classrooms, laboratories, li braries, arts & craft rooms, toilets, drinking water facilities etc., improving the teachers pupil ratio as well as strategies for gender positive textbooks, gender sensitization of teachers and educational administrators and ICT enabled education.  SSA programme also provide for free textbooks and two sets of uniform for children at elementary level.

SSA has  provided  2.06  lakh  primary  and  1.61  lakh  upper  primary  schools  for  ensuring universal provisioning of schooling facilities. Preference for opening of school is given to tribal areas, and areas with high concentration of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and minority population. In addition, 3703 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, which are residential schools for girls at upper primary  level,  have  also  been  sanctioned  to  the  States  for  improving  access  to  marginalised  girls particularly out of school, either drop out or never enrolled. Under SSA, provisions have also been made for residential schools/hostels and transportation/escort facility for children living in sparsely populated areas, children living in areas where schools cannot be opened due to unavailability of land and children in need of care and protection. RMSA has a component for setting up of Girls Hostels for girl students in the age group of 14-18 years studying in classes IX to XII and belonging to  Scheduled  Caste  (SC),  Scheduled  Tribe  (ST),  Other  Backward  Class  (OBC),  Minority communities and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The scheme envisages setting up of hostels with lodging and boarding facilities with the capacity of 100 girls in each of the 3451 Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) in the areas nearing concentration of above target groups so that the girl students are not denied the opportunity to continue their study due to societal factors. As on date, out of 3451 EBBs, 2549 girl's hostels have been approved and 1352 girl's hostels are functional with a total enrollment of 1,19,623 girls students.

To  ensure  effective  utilization  of  funds  under  these  Schemes,  there  are  robust  monitoring systems  in  place  to  review  the  physical  and  financial  progress  of  approved  interventions  through monthly/quarterly reports, annual audit by independent Chartered Accountants empanelled with the Comptroller  and Auditor  General  (CAG)  of  India,  a  regular  CAG  audit,  a  system  of  concurrent fi nancial reviews, as well as regular internal audit and regular Review  Meetings  with all States/UTs.

(c)  and  (d):  Section  29  of  the  RTE Act,  2009  lays  down  a  curriculum  which  promotes,  among others, all round development of the child and development of physical and mental abilities to the fullest extent. The Schedule to the RTE Act lays down the norms and standards for a school building which includes a playground and equipment for sports and games. It also provides for engagement of part-time instructors for Health and Physical Education at upper primary level where enrolment of children is more than hundred, which is supported under SSA.

The  Central  Government  supports  States  and  UTs  for  creation  and  augmentation  of infrastructural facilities in government elementary and secondary schools under the SSA and RMSA programmes.  To  address  the  issue  of  shortage  of  playgrounds  in  schools,  an  advisory  has  been issued that schools that do not have playgrounds, may make adequate arrangements in an adjoining playground, municipal park etc., for children to play outdoor games and other physical activities. Under  SSA,  annual  school  grant  is  provided  to  government  and  government  aided  schools  for replacement of non-functional school equipment and for other recurring costs such as consumables, play material, games and sports equipment etc. RMSA programme encourages the States/UTs to focus  on  sports,  culture  activities,  activity  based  learning,  exposure  to  life  skills  with  respect  to health, nutrition etc. The annual school grant of Rs. 50,000/- per school provided under the scheme has provision among other components, for sports equipment. The construction of play fields, which can  be  used  by  school  children,  is  also  provided  under  the  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural

Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

The  Central  Board  of  Secondary  Education  (CBSE)  has  also  included  provision  of playgrounds  in  its Affiliation  Bye  laws.  There  is  an  inbuilt  system  for  creating  sports  facilities  for students in Kendriya Vidyalayas. As and when a building for Kendriya Vidyalaya is constructed, a provision is kept for developing sports infrastructure/playgrounds as per the local need and the land availability . Also, in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, play facilities such as Running Track, playfield, Basketball field, Kho-Kho etc are provided.

National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, adopted as the curriculum under the RTE Act, 2009, recommends health and physical education as a compulsory subject area from Classes I to X and as an optional subject at Senior Secondary Stage (Classes XI and XII).  All States have either adopted or adapted their curriculum as per NCF.

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