Lok Sabha Question No. 267 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-15
Subject: Bal Bhavans
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Jaskaur Meena, Nihal Chand Chauhan

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 267 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15 TH  MARCH, 2021

## Bal Bhavans

## †*267. SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA: SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the salient features of New Education Policy;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  has  fixed  a  target  of  setting  up  Bal  Bhavans  in  all  the  districts throughout the country under the said policy;
- (c) if so, the details thereof including Ganganagar and Dausa districts of Rajasthan;
- (d) the details of the amount earmarked for this purpose; and
- (e) the time by which these are likely to be set up?

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

- (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the table of the House.

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  267  TO  BE  ANSWERRED  ON  15 TH   MARCH,  2021 REGARDING BAL BHAVANS ASKED BY SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA AND SHRI NIHAL CHAND, Hon'ble MPs:

- (a): National Education Policy 2020, paves way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems in the country. The salient features of New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 are as follows :-
- I. New Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and HEs; Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language; National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit , Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up.
- II. New Policy aims for Universalization of Education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 % GER in school education by 2030
- III. New 5+3+3+4 school curriculum with 12 years of schooling and 3 years of Anganwadi/ pre-schooling
- IV. Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no hard separation between academic streams,  extracurricular,  vocational  streams  in  school  ;  Vocational  Education  to  start from Class 6 with Internships
- V. Assessment  reforms  with  360  degree  Holistic  Progress  Card  and  tracking  Student Progress  for  achieving  Learning  Outcomes.  A  National  Assessment  Centre,  PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), to be set-up  as a standard-setting   body for transforming Assessment
- VI. Setting-up  of  State  School  Standards  Authority  (SSSA)  to  establish  a  minimal  set  of standards  based  on  basic  parameters  (namely,  safety,  security,  basic  infrastructure, number of teachers across subjects and grades, financial probity, and sound processes of governance), which shall be followed by all schools.
- VII. Teacher education to move into a multi-disciplinary environment and four year B.ED integrated to become a minimum degree qualification for school teachers by 2030.
- VIII. Achieving 100% youth and Adult literacy
- IX. GER in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035
- X. Higher Education curriculum to have Flexibility of Subjects,
- XI. Multiple Entry / Exit, and transfer of credit through an Academic Bank of Credits
- XII. National Research Foundation to be established to foster a strong research culture
- XIII. Light  but  Tight  Regulation  of  Higher  education,  single  regulator  with  four separate  verticals  for  different  functions-  the  Higher  Education  Commission  of  India (HECI).
- XIV. A  stage-wise  mechanism  for  granting  graded  autonomy  to  colleges,  through  a transparent system of graded accreditation, will be established.
- XV. NEP  2020 advocates increased use of technology with equity; Educational Technology Forum to be created

National

- XVI. NEP 2020 emphasizes setting  up  of  Gender  Inclusion  Fund,  Special  Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups

(b)  to  (e): Para  7.11  of  NEP  2020,  recommends  that  every  State  will  be  encouraged  to strengthen existing or establish 'Bal Bhavans' where children of all ages can visit once a week (e.g., on weekends) or more often, as a special daytime boarding school, to partake in art-related, career-related, and play-related activities.

It  would  be  pertinent  to  mention  here  that  Education  is  in  the  Concurrent  list  of  the Constitution of India and setting up of the schools and related institutions are in the jurisdiction of the State and UTs. Therefore, it is for the respective State Government to take decision on setting up of Bal Bhavans within its jurisdictional area.

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