Lok Sabha Question No. 3199 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-31
Subject: Quality Education in Government Schools
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: DINESH TRIVEDI, MD. BADARIDDOZA KHAN, NIHAL CHAND CHAUHAN

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3199 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31 st   December, 2018

Quality Education in Government Schools

## 3199. SHRI DINESH TRIVEDI: SHRI MD. BADARUDDOZA KHAN: SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

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

- (a) whether it is a fact that the quality of education in Government schools is declining due to which parents are enrolling their children in private schools;
- (b) if so, the details of gap between the number of enrolment in private and Government schools during the last three years;

(c) whether the Government is conducting frequent workshops/ trainings for teachers in order to improve teaching methods using innovative tools and technology and if so, the details thereof; and (d) the types of schools being run by the Government in the country, category-wise?

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

## (DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a):        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 13 th 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 RTE Act by the Government of India. NAS district report cards have been shared with the States and UTs to help in identifying gaps at the district level. Subsequently, a framework of intervention has been developed and shared with States to improve the quality of learning in the schools. The NAS reveal continuous improvement in learning achievement levels of pupils, in identified subjects. NAS for students of class X was held on 5 th Feb, 2018 with a district level sampling framework covering nearly 15.5 lakh students using multiple test booklets in Mathematics, Modern Indian Languages, English, Sciences and Social Sciences. District report cards for NAS 2018(Class X) are available on MHRD website to help identify gaps and devise strategies for further improvement.

(b) The total enrolment in Government and Private schools during last three years is as under:-

| Years   |   Enrolment in classes I to XII in Government schools |   Enrolment in classes I to XII in Private schools |   Difference (Gap)| in enrolment between Government and Private schools. |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2014-15 |                                             144194283 |                                           79991560 |                                                                      64202723 |
| 2015-16 |                                             143152245 |                                           82421710 |                                                                      60730535 |
| 2016-17 |                                             137222799 |                                           80582804 |                                                                      56639995 |

Source: Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE) 2016-17 Provisional.

(c) The Department of School Education and Literacy has launched the Samagra Shiksha - an Integrated Scheme for School Education as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with States with effect from the year 2018-19. This programme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan  (SSA),  Rashtriya  Madhyamik  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (RMSA)  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.

Under the scheme, support is provided for strengthening of Teacher Education Institutions including State  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (SCERTs)  and  District  Institute  of  Education  and Training  (DIETs)  and  teacher  training,  in-service  and  pre-service,  professional  development  of  teachers, school  leadership  training  and  academic  support  through  Block  Resource  Centres  (BRCs)  and  Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs). SCERT has been designated as the Nodal Agency for all teacher trainings.

A  four  year  B.Ed  integrated  course  to  bring  about  qualitative  improvement  in  teacher  education programmes in India has been conceptualised and regulations for this course have been published in official gazette on 22 nd November, 2018. The model curriculum prepared for this course includes crucial aspects like Gender, Inclusive education, ICT, Yoga, Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Health & Sanitation.

Ministry  of  Human  Resource  and  Development  (MHRD)  and  the  National  Council  for  Teacher Education (NCTE) have developed a dedicated digital infrastructure for teachers, DIKSHA, with the aim to empower school teachers of the country with access to innovative tech-based solutions. DIKSHA is a unique initiative  that  leverages  existing,  highly  scalable  and  flexible  digital  infrastructures,  around  the  needs  of teachers for effective teaching and administration.

Section 23(2) of The Right to Education Act, 2009 has been amended to extend the period of training of untrained in-service elementary teachers to 31 st March, 2019. All untrained in-service elementary teachers are required to acquire minimum qualifications as laid down by the academic authority by 31 st March, 2019. The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has been entrusted with the task of conducting the training of untrained in-service elementary teachers. 13,78,979 untrained in-service teachers have  confirmed admissions at NIOS Portal. NIOS is conducting D.El.Ed. programme through Open Distance Learning (ODL) mode and SWAYAM platform, SWAYAMPRABHA DTH channel are also used for this purpose.

Further,  NCERT  has  developed  a  framework  for  Performance  Indicators  for  Elementary  School Teachers  (PINDICS)  and  shared  with  the  states  for  effective  monitoring  and  benchmarking  of  teacher performance across the country.

(d) : As  per  Section  2(n)  of  the  RTE  Act,  2009,  'School'  means  any  recognised  school  imparting elementary  education  and  includes-  (i)  a  school  established,  owned  or  controlled  by  the  appropriate government  or  a  local  authority;  (ii)  an  aided  school  receiving  aid  or  grants  to  meet  whole  or  part  of  its expenses  from  the  appropriate  government  or  the  local  authority;  (iii)  a  school  belonging  to  specified category;  and (iv) an unaided school not receiving any kind of aid or grants to meet its expenses from the appropriate government or the local authority.

Further, as per the Section 2(p) of RTE Act, 2009 'Specified Category', in relation to a school, means a school known as Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sainik Schools or any other school having a distinct character which may be specified, by notification, by appropriate government.

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