Lok Sabha Question No. 1963 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-28
Subject: Quality of Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: OM BIRLA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.1963 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.11.2016

## Quality of Education

## †1963. SHRI OM BIRLA:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware that the responsibility to deal with the administrative aspects of the  Mid-day Meal scheme also lies with teachers which has affected the quality of teaching in such schools;
- (b) if so, the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government for bringing improvement in the quality of education;
- (c) whether the Government has issued any direction in this regard to States for the appointment of one clerk in each Government school and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the present teacher-student ratio in primary and upper-primary level;
- (e) whether the present ratio is as per international norms; and
- (f) the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a):  The Mid Day Meal Scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme being implemented in partnership with States/UTs.  A total of 25.52 lakhs cook-cum-helpers have been engaged by  the  States/UTs  under  the  scheme  during  2015-16.    The  Guidelines  of  the  scheme envisage that teachers should not be assigned responsibilities that will impede or interfere with teaching learning.   The teachers are to ensure that the mid day meal is served in an orderly manner within specified time (recess period) and the quality and hygiene of food served  is  maintained.  Except  the  above  supervisory  responsibility,  there  is  no  other role/responsibility  of  the  teachers  in  the  preparation  of  the  mid  day  meal.  Therefore,  the teaching learning activities are not affected due to serving of mid-day meal.

(b)&(c): Quality education and improvement in learning levels at the elementary stage is one of the key objectives of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which is a centrally sponsored scheme.  Some of the important initiatives taken are as under:

- (i) The State Governments and UT  Administrations are supported on several interventions under SSA to improve teaching standards, including regular in-service teachers'  training,  induction  training  for  newly  recruited  teachers,  training  of  all untrained  teachers  to  acquire  professional  qualifications,  academic  support  for teachers through block and cluster resource centres, continuous and comprehensive evaluation system to equip the teacher to measure pupil performance and provide remedial action wherever required, and teacher and school grants for development of appropriate teaching-learning materials, etc.
- (ii) Under SSA, posts of teachers are sanctioned to ensure the stipulated Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) and the Central Government is constantly encouraging the States/UTs to fill up all the posts of teachers and redeploy them to maintain suitable PTR in all schools.
- (iii) Government has launched Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat (PBBB), a sub-programme under  the  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA)  to  support  States/UTs  to  improve  early grade reading, writing &comprehension and early mathematics in classes I&II.
- (iv) The Government has also launched Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA), inter-alia, as  a  sub-component  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA)  and  Rashtriya  Madhyamik Shiksha  Abhiyan  (RMSA),  to  motivate  and  engage  children  of  the  age  group  of 6-18 years in Science, Mathematics and Technology through observation, experimentation,  inference  drawing,  model  building,  etc.  both  through  inside  and outside classroom activities.
- (v) The  NCERT  has  developed  Performance  Indicators  for  Elementary  Education (PINDICS)  to  track  teacher  performance  and  attendance  in  Government  schools. PINDICS  have  been  shared  with  State  Governments/UTs  to  assess  teacher's performance.
- (d) to (f):As per Unified District Information System of Education (UDISE), 2014-15, the  Pupil  Teacher  Ratio  (PTR)  for  primary  and    upper  primary  schools  (in Government Schools) is 29:1 and   26:1 respectively.

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