Lok Sabha Question No. 3009 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-31
Subject: Affordable Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: RANJANBEN BHATT, VASANTHI M.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3009 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.12.2018

## Affordable Education

## †3009. SHRIMATI RANJANBEN BHATT: SHRIMATI VASANTHI M.:

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

(a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  education  policy  today  is  based  on  accessibility,  accountability, affordability and equity and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether it is also true that even after all these steps by the Governments the education for some sectors of the society is still unaffordable;

(c) if so, the steps proposed to be taken up by the Government in this regard;

(d)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  impart  free  education  till  class  12th  and  if  so,  the  steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard; and

(e) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

## (Dr. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a)  to  (c):    The  extant  National  Policy  on  Education  (NPE)  provides  for  a  National  System  of Education which implies that, up to a given level, all students, irrespective of caste, creed, location or sex, have access to education of a comparable quality. It includes a common educational structure, a national  curriculum  framework  and  minimum  levels  of  learning  for  each  stage  of  education. The Government is committed to improve the quality of education and it is a continuous ongoing process. The Government is committed to provide equitable access to quality education to all sections of the society. Ministry of Human Resource Development took a leap forward in transforming education sector with the motto of 'Sabko Shiksha, Achchi Shiksha' (Quality education to all) founded on the goals  of  accessibility,  accountability,  affordability  and  equity.  The  Ministry  of  Human  Resource Development is implementing several schemes aimed at enhancing literacy and basic education of the youth, expanding access to all levels of education, including higher and technical education.

The  42nd  Constitutional  Amendment,  1976  brought  about  a  fundamental  change  by  transferring education from the State List to the Concurrent List giving equal responsibility to both the Central and  State  Governments  to  promote  education.    Recognizing  the  centrality  of  states  both  in  policy formulation  and  effective  implementation  of  education  reforms,  the  Ministry  of  HRD  has  been regularly  convening  meetings  of  the  Central  Advisory  Board  on  Education  (CABE),  which  is  a composite body and is also the highest advisory body on education.

Several  initiatives  are  currently  being  undertaken  such  as  in  elementary  education,  the  Right  of Children  to  Free  and  Compulsory  Education  (RTE)  Act,  2009  and  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA) programme  aims  for  improvements  in  school  infrastructure,  curricular  and  assessment  reforms, identification  of  learning  indicators,  improved  teaching  and  learning  resulting  in  better  learning outcomes. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha (RSMA), ICT in Schools, Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE), Shaala Siddhi, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan are being implemented to improve  the  quality  of  secondary  education.  Recently,  the  Department  of  School  Education  and Literacy  has  formulated  the  Samagra  Shiksha  -  an  Integral  Scheme  for  School  Education  as  a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and it is being implemented throughout the country with effect from the year 2018-19. This programme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha (RSMA) and Teacher Education (TE). It is an  overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and  aims  to  ensure  inclusive  and  equitable  quality  education  at  all  levels  of  school  education.  It envisages the 'school' as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels.

In higher education also, various schemes, namely, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), Scheme  for  Promotion  of  Academic  and  Research  Collaboration  (SPARC),  Global  Initiative  for Academics Network (GIAN), Impacting Research, Innovation & Technology (IMPRINT), Technical Education  Quality  Improvement  Programme  (TEQIP),  Pandit  Madan  Mohan  Malaviya  National Mission  on  Teachers  and  Teaching  (PMMMNMTT),  Study  Webs  of  Active-Learning  for  Young Aspiring  Minds  (SWAYAM),  National  Digital  Library,  campus  connect  programme,  Uchhatar Avishkar Abhiyan, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan are being implemented to improve the quality of higher education. A number of initiatives are also undertaken by UGC and AICTE for quality improvement in higher and technical education.

(d) to (e): No Madam. However, the Government is in the process of formulating a New Education Policy (NEP) to meet the changing dynamics of the population's requirement with regard to quality education, innovation and research, aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students  with  the  necessary  skills  and  knowledge  and  to  eliminate  the  shortage  of  manpower  in science, technology, academics and industry. The five pillars of NEP would be Accessibility, Equity, Affordability,  Quality  and  Accountability.  For  this  purpose,  the  Government  has  constituted  a Committee for preparation of the draft National Education Policy under the Chairmanship of eminent scientist Padma Vibhushan Dr. K. Kasturirangan, which is expected to submit its report soon.

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