Lok Sabha Question No. 130 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-14
Subject: Quality Education
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Mohammad Jawed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 130 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 th September, 2020

## Quality Education

## 130. DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED :

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  universalisation  of  secondary education, in absence of the extension of Right to Education Act 2009 and also, the concrete plans to ensure resource-rich, high quality secondary education, rather than open and distance education that can further widen inequality?

(b) whether there is any timeline for achieving 6% of GDP allocation for education and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government is planning to recruit trained and qualified teachers, as recommended in the policy and the plans for infrastructure upgradation;.

(d)  the  measures taken by the Government to prevent drop-out of children, where there  has  been  migration  from  mother  tongue  to  a  second  language  especially  in North-East; and

- (e)  whether  a  substantive  equality  model  of  CEDAW  framework  is  likely  to  be adopted for laying down guidelines for ensuring school safety and security for girls and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a): In order to target Universalisation of Secondary Education, the Department of School  Education  &  Literacy  has  launched  the  Integrated  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha from 2018-19, which subsumes the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored  Schemes  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan,  Rashtriya  Madhyamik  Shiksha Abhiyan  and  Teacher  Education.  The  scheme  provides  support  inter-alia  to  the States and UTs for upgradation and strengthening of schools, including secondary schools in un-covered areas, and various other initiatives for enhancing the quality of education such as Induction and In-service training of teachers and School Heads,

Remedial teaching, conduct of assessment surveys, use of ICT in teaching-learning, innovative  pedagogies,  composite  school  grant  for  providing  conducive  learning environment, grant for library and sports etc. Further, the Learning Outcomes at the Secondary  Stage  have  been  developed  by  NCERT.  It  contains  the  competencies which learners should develop by the end of classes IX and X in all subjects.

(b): The National Education Policy 2020 states that the Centre & States will work together to increase the public investment in education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.

(c):     The National Education Policy, 2020 emphasizes on teachers at the heart of the  learning  process  and  for  enhancing  at  the  earliest  the  quality  of  teacher education, recruitment of qualified teachers and their rational deployment so that all schools meet the prescribed PTR norms. Education is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the recruitment and service conditions of teachers are in the domain of respective State Government/UT Administrations. The Central Government  through  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  of  Samagra  Shiksha provides support to the States and UTs as per the approved norms, for additional teachers  in  order  to  maintain  appropriate  Pupil  Teacher  Ratio  at  Elementary  and Secondary levels of schooling, respectively.

Under  Samagra  Shiksha  Scheme,  support  is  given  for  strengthening  of infrastructure of government schools at all levels.

(d):     Under Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs for various activities to reduce number of dropouts, which  include  opening/strengthening  of  new  schools  upto  senior  secondary  level, construction  of  school  buildings  &  additional  classrooms,  setting  up,  up-gradation and  running  of  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalayas,  setting up  of residential schools/hostels, free uniforms, free text books, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment  drives,  residential  as  well  as  non  residential  trainings  etc.  Financial assistance  is  also  provided  for  Inclusive  Education  of  children  with  special  needs. Also, Mid-Day-Meal is provided to students at the elementary level of education.

(e): India signed the CEDAW on 30 th July, 1980 and ratified it on 9 th July, 1993. The Ministry of Education has issued detailed guidelines on safety and security of children  vide  letter  dated  9 th October,  2014  to  all  State  and  UT  Governments  to ensure safety and security of school children. These guidelines were reiterated on 11 th September, 2017 to all States and UTs for institutionalizing and ensuring a safe, secure  and  vibrant  environment  in  schools  for  children.  Ministry  of  Education conducts specialized trainings for teachers and students on gender sensitization and awareness  with  regards  to  all  kinds  of  abuse  against  children  and  the  provision therein. Also, under Samagra Shiksha, support is given to states for providing selfdefence training to girls of class 6 onwards.

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