Lok Sabha Question No. 1 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-18
Subject: Promoting School Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rita Bahuguna Joshi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.11.2019

## PROMOTING SCHOOL EDUCATION

## 1. SHRIMATI RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI:

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

- (a) whether the Government has identified the deficient areas in the school education system of the States/UTs;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government for providing adequate assistance to the States/UTs lagging behind; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

- (a) to (c)  MHRD has designed a matrix called Performance Grading Index (PGI) based on 70 indicators to grade the States/UTs. PGI is a tool which provides insights on the status of school education in States and UTs including key levers that drive their performance and critical areas for improvement. The purpose of PGI is to help States and UTs to pinpoint the  gaps  and  accordingly  prioritize  areas  for  intervention  to  ensure  that  the  school education  system  is  robust  at  every  level.  To  collect  timely  and  accurate  data,  a  well functioning and sustainable Educational Management Information System called UDISE + (UDISE  plus) has been launched in 2018-19. (https://mhrd.gov.in/summary-reportperformance-grading-index-pgi-states-and-uts-2017-18-1) (http://udiseplus.gov.in)

The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducts periodic national surveys to assess learning achievement of children in Classes - III, V, VIII, and X. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017 was held on 13th November for assessing the competencies developed by the children at the grade levels III, V and VIII from across 701 districts covering all the 36 States and UTs and covered 22 lakh students from 1.10 lakh  schools.  NAS  (2017)  was  administered  with  districts  as  the  unit  of  reporting  in different subject areas such as languages, mathematics, EVS/Science and Social Sciences in the Government and Government aided schools. The competency based test was based on the Learning Outcomes which were recently incorporated in the Central Rules for the Right  of  Children  to  Free  and  Compulsory  Education Act by  the  Government  of  India. Similarly,  National  Achievement Survey  for Class X was also conducted throughout the country on February 05, 2018 in government, government aided and private schools. The learning  levels of 1.5  million students  in 44,304  schools across 610 districts  in 34 States and UTs were assessed, in 5 subject areas of English, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and Modern Indian Language (MIL).

The  NAS  district  report  cards  have  been  shared  with  the  States  and  UTs  to  help  in identifying  gaps  at  the  district  level  and  devise  strategies  for  further  improvement. Subsequently, a framework of intervention has been developed and shared with States to improve the quality of learning in the schools. (https://mhrd.gov.in/nas)

Further,  Central  Government has taken the  following  initiatives  for  improving  quality  of education:

(i) 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 unaided  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 and out of these about 9.58 Lakh teachers have cleared the same. (https://mhrd.gov.in/rte)

(ii) The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  has  launched  an  Integrated Scheme  for  School  EducationSamagra  Shiksha ,  subsuming  three  erstwhile  Centrally Sponsored  Schemes  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA),  Rashtriya  Madhyamik  Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE), with effect from 1st April, 2018. The new integrated  scheme  envisages  school  education  as  a  continuum  from  pre-school  to  senior secondary level and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels. The  main  objectives  of  the  scheme  are  providing  quality  education,  enhancing  learning outcomes  of  students,  bridging  social  and  gender  gaps  in  school  education,  ensuring requisite  infrastructure  in  schools,  support  to  states  in  the  implementation  of  RTE  Act, 2009 and strengthening of teacher education institutions. (http://samagra.mhrd.gov.in)

(iii) e-  PATHSHALA:  a  single  point  repository  of  e  resources  containing  NCERT textbooks  and  various  other  learning  resources  has  been  developed  for  showcasing  and disseminating all educational resources including textbooks, audio, video, periodicals, and a variety of other print and non-print materials. (http://epathshala.nic.in)

(iv) MHRD has launched a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform popularly known as SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active learning for Young Aspiring Minds) on 9 th July, 2017. The portal is offering various online courses for school education and higher education. (https://swayam.gov.in)

(v) A programme for utilization of satellite communication technologies for transmission  of  educational  e-contents  through  32  National  Channels  i.e.  SWAYAM PRABHA  DTH-TV  has  been  launched.  Central  Institute  of  Educational  Technology (CIET)-NCERT is the national coordinator for one DTH TV channel i.e., Kishore Manch (#31) and has started feeding a 24x7 educational TV channel w.e.f. 09 July, 2018. Besides, NIOS is running 5 channels for teachers of Secondary and Senior Secondary levels and for sign language. (https://www.swayamprabha.gov.in)

(vi) In order to provide supplementary learning material for students and for upgrading the  skills  of  teachers,  MHRD  has  developed  a  dedicated  Digital  Infrastructure  for Knowledge  Sharing  (DIKSHA)  platform.    High  quality  e-learning  material  both  for students  and  teachers  is  being  uploaded  by  Ministry  and  States/UTs  on  this  portal. ( https://diksha.gov.in/)

(vii) Integrated Teacher Training Programme NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers' Holistic  Advancement) was  launched  in  August, 2019 for capacity building of all the teachers and school principals at the elementary stage to provide training in core areas to 42 Lakh teachers across the country. The aim of this training is to motivate and  equip  teachers  to  encourage  and  foster  critical  thinking  in  students,  handle  diverse situations and act as first level counsellors. (nishtha.ncert.gov.in) (viii) Government of India has decided to participate in the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) to be conducted by the Organization for  Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2021. PISA is a competency based assessment which  unlike  content-based  assessment,  measures  the  extent  to  which  students  have acquired  key  competencies  that  are  essential  for  full  participation  in  modern  societies. (https://mhrd.gov.in/india-and-oecd-sign-agreement-enable-india%E2%80%99sparticipation-programme-international-students)

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