Lok Sabha Question No. 119 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-06
Subject: Access to Textbooks
Ministry: Education
Asked by: D.K. Suresh, Sumalatha Ambareesh

(a) to (d)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 119 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2021

## Access to Textbooks

## *119.  SHRI D.K. SURESH: SHRIMATI SUMALATHA AMBAREESH:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether it is true that during the lockdown period half of the students did not have access to

- textbooks and in the absence of physical schooling, they suffered huge learning losses;

(b) if so, whether the Government has made any assessment to find out the actual number of students who could not get access to education during the lockdown period; (c) if so, the details thereof; and (d) whether the Government is taking any measures to enable the students to fill the gap of

- learning losses caused by this lack of access to education and if so, give details?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

A Statement is laid on the table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 119  TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2021 ASKED BY HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT  SHRI  D.K.  SURESH  AND  SHRIMATI  SUMALATHA  AMBAREESH REGARDING 'ACCESS TO TEXTBOOKS.'

(a) to (d) The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has impacted school education. Schools in States and Union  Territories  were  closed  as  a  precautionary  measure  to  protect  the  students  from  Novel COVID-19 (Corona) virus. This has interrupted the learning of students from pre- school to grade 12.  Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments.

During COVID-19 Pandemic, Ministry of Education held continuous consultations with the States and UTs at various levels to assess the various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has conducted a survey in the month of July,  2020  with  the  help  of  Kendriya  Vidyalaya  Sangathan  (KVS),  Navodaya  Vidyalaya  Samiti (NVS) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to understand the scenario of Online Learning of school students in COVID-19 pandemic situation. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) was conducted on 12.11.2021 in 717 districts of the country to assess learning levels of sampled children of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10.

Under Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, an outlay of Rs. 2871.73 crore had been approved for distributing free text books to 9.73 crore children at the elementary level in 2020-21.    During the lockdown, Textbooks and worksheets were supplied to residence of learners and  community/mohalla  classes  were  organized.  Innovation  Funds  of  Department  of  School Education & Literacy were used to set up mobile school, virtual studios, virtual class rooms in schools.  Continuous Learning Plan (CLP) for States/UTs has been initiated in all States/UTs, preloaded tablets provided under Samagra Shiksha in various States and UTs are effectively used in remote/rural areas where online classes are difficult.

Samagra Shiksha has been aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in order to ensure inclusive and equitable, quality and holistic school education. The major interventions, across  all  levels  of  school  education,  proposed  under  the  scheme  are:  (i)  Universal  Access including  Infrastructure  Development  and  Retention;  (ii)  Foundational  Literacy  and  Numeracy, (iii)  Gender  and  Equity;  (iv)  Inclusive  Education;  (v)  Quality  and  Innovation;  (vi)  Financial support for Teacher Salary;  (vii) Digital initiatives; (viii) RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks  etc.;  (ix)  Support  for  ECCE;  (x)  Vocational  Education;  (xi)  Sports  and  Physical Education; (xii) Strengthening  of Teacher  Education  and  Training;(xiii) Monitoring;  (xiv) Programme Management; and (xv) National Component. Samagra Shiksha also has a clear focus on bridging and eliminating gender differences in enrolment, retention and quality of learning.

A National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy called 'National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)' has been launched by the  Ministry  of  Education  (MoE)  on  5 th July  2021under  the  aegis  of  Samagra  Shiksha.  The National Mission lays down priorities and actionable agendas for States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3. under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha which is an integrated scheme of school education covering from Pre-School to Senior Secondary level.

In  order  to  mitigate  the  impact  of  challenges  thrown  by  the  COVID-19  pandemic  for migrant children and for preventing drop outs, lower enrolments and loss of learning, the Ministry of  Education  issued  guidelines  for  identification,  smooth  admission  process  and  continued education of migrant children on 13.07.2020. To ensure that children have access to education with quality and equity and to minimize the impact of the pandemic on school education in the country, the Department of School Education has prepared and issued detailed guidelines on 7th January, 2021,  on  the  steps  to  be  taken  by  the  States  and  UTs.  The  guidelines,  among  others,  include identification  of  out  of  school  children  from  age  6-18  years,  enrolment  drives  and  awareness generation,  student  support  while  schools  are  closed,  continued  Education  for  children  with Special Needs (CWSN), student support on school reopening and Teacher capacity building.

The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  vide  letter  dated  4th May,  2021  has shared a comprehensive Covid Action plan with States/UTs and other stakeholders for mitigating the loss of learning. Bridge Course Modules have been developed for bridging the learning gaps of Out of School Children studying in Special Training Centers (STC) under the provision of RTE Act,  2009.  Vidya  Pravesh  has  been  launched  for  class  1st  students.  This  is  a  play  preparation  3 months program which prepare students for school through playschools. Through this scheme all the remote  students  will  have  access  to  play  schools.  This  scheme  aims  at  spreading  the  concept  of playschools  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  country.  It  aims  to  ensure  that  no  student  is  deprived  of education.

A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiated which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes, where work is in progress:

- DIKSHA  the  nation's  digital  infrastructure  for  providing  quality  e-content  for  school education in states/UTs:  and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform)
- One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel)
- Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani
- Special  e-content  for  visually  and  hearing  impaired  developed  on  Digitally  Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube

In  view  of  the  COVID-19  challenges  and  in  order  to  provide  continuous  professional development opportunities to the teachers at the elementary level, this Department launched the NISHTHA  online  training  programme  using  DIKSHA  platform  in  October  2020.  NISHTHA online for elementary level covered 18 modules in 11 languages, including use of ICT in teachinglearning.  Around  24  lakh  teachers  completed  NISHTHA  online  training  at  elementary  level  by June, 2021. Further, NISHTHA online training has also been initiated for secondary teachers and teachers teaching at foundational level.

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