Lok Sabha Question No. 368 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-18
Subject: Quality of Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: RAMA DEVI, VISHNU DAYAL RAM, LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV, RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD, BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 368 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 th  December, 2017

## Quality of Education

## †368.     SHRIMATI  RAMA  DEVI: SHRI VISHNU DAYALRAM: SHRI LAXMI  NARAYANYADAV: PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD: SHRI BHAIRON PRASADMISHRA:

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

- (a)    whether  the    Government    has  noticed    the    poor    level    of    primary    and  secondary education  in  the  country  and if so, the details thereof and reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government proposes any  scheme  to  improve  the syllabus  and evaluation system of primary and secondary education and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the measures taken/to be taken by the Government to improve the  quality of education  in  the  country, particularly in rural areas;
- (d) whether the Government is aware that the level of education of the Government schools is deteriorating continuously and if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  make  new  laws  to  improve  the  condition  of    the Government  schools  and  make  it mandatory for senior Government officials to admit their wards in Government schools and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a)  to  (e):  The  Central  Government  through  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  of  Sarva  Shiskha Abhiyan  (SSA)  and  Rashtriya  Madhyamik  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (RMSA)  supports  States/UTs  to improve quality of education at elementary and secondary level respectively.

Under these schemes, the State Governments and UT Administrations are supported on several interventions  to  improve  quality  of  education,  teaching  standards,  including  regular  in-service teachers' training, induction training for newly recruited teachers, recruitment of additional teachers for improving pupil teacher ratio, academic support for teachers through block and cluster resource centres, Maths and Science kits, Lab equipment, special teaching for learning enhancement, ICT facilities  in  schools,  introduction  of  vocational  education  component  at  the  secondary  level  and activities under 'Unnati' project for improvement in English language skills.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducts periodic national surveys of learning achievement of children in classes III, V and 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  surveys  reveal  improvement  in  learning  achievement  levels  of  pupils,  in  identified subjects  from  first  round  to  fourth  round.  Findings  of  the  NAS  at  class  X  indicates  that  privately managed  schools  performed  better  than  Government  and  Government  Aided  schools,  in  all  the subjects and in two subjects Girls outperformed boys. However, only first round of NAS has been conducted at class X level.

From current year onwards, Government has decided to conduct National Achievement Survey with  district  as  the  sampling  unit.  In  order  to  focus  on  quality  education,  the  Central  RTE Rules have been amended on 20th February, 2017 to include reference on class-wise, subject-wise Learning  Outcomes,  to  serve  as  a  guideline  for  States/UT s  to  ensure  that  all  children  acquire appropriate  learning  levels.  The  Learning  Outcomes  for  each  class  at  elementary  stage  in Languages  (Hindi,  English  and  Urdu),  Mathematics,  Environmental  Studies,  Science  and  Social Science  have  been  finalized  and  shared  with  all  States  and  UT s.  The  learning  outcomes  are displayed  in  the  respective  schools  and  parents  are  also  apprised.  The  teachers  are  also  trained accordingly.

Further,  Section 23(2) of the RTE Act has been amended to extend the period for training of  untrained  in-service  elementary  teachers  to  31st  March,  2019. As  per  above  amendment,  all untrained  in-service  teachers  working  in  Government,  Government  aided,  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 already been started from 3rd October, 2017.

In addition to above, the Central Government, supports States and UTs on early grade reading, writing  &  comprehension,  and  early  Mathematics  programmes  through  a  sub-programme  of  SSA 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  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 Technology  through  observation,  experimentation,  inference  drawing,  model  building,  etc.  both through inside and outside classroom activities. Further,  for  improving  the  quality  of  school  education,  the  School  Standards  &  Evaluation framework,  known  as  'Shaala  Siddhi'  has  been  developed,  to  enable  schools  to  evaluate  their performance  in  a  more  focused  and  strategic  manner  and  to  facilitate  them  to  make  professional judgments for improvement. To  improve  the  condition  of  the  Government  schools,  the  Central  government  also  supports

State/UT  Governments  for  creation  and  augmentation  of  infrastructural  facilities  in  Government elementary and secondary schools under SSA and RMSA  programmes.

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