Lok Sabha Question No. 866 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-12
Subject: Developmental/Learning Difficulties Students in Government Schools
Ministry: Education
Asked by: S. Jothimani

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 866 ANSWERED ON - 12/12/2022

## Developmental/Learning Difficulties Students in Government Schools

866. MS. S. JOTHIMANI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  conducted  a  survey  on  the  number  of  children  in Government schools with developmental/learning difficulties;

(b) whether the Government has conducted an assessment on the appropriate infrastructure of Government  school  teaching  methodology,  staff  behaviour,  etc.  for  helping  children  with developmental/learning difficulties and if so, the details thereof; and

(c)  the  specific  steps  Government  has  taken,  or  intends  to  take  to  ensure  proper  learning outcomes among these children?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) The Government of India has been implementing a programme of sample based National Achievement Survey (NAS) aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of three years. The last round of NAS was held on November 12, 2021 across India covering students of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10. The aim and objective of NAS is to evaluate children's progress and learning  competencies  as  an  indicator  of  the  health  of  the  education  system,  so  as  to  take appropriate  steps  for  remedial  actions  at  different  levels.  National,  State/UT  and  District Reports for NAS 2021 have been released on 25.05.2022 and are available at http://nas.gov.in.

(b) Education is in the concurrent list of Constitution of India, and funds are provided to each State and UT under Samagra Shiksha based on their annual plan. Each State and UT develops its own plan in accordance with its own priorities and requirements after assessing the demand for school infrastructure, teacher training, and other factors that aid in ensuring that  children  have easy  access to a quality  education. These demands are reflected in their respective Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP & B).

(c) The following steps have been taken by the Government of  India to ensure proper learning outcomes among children in Government Schools:

1. The  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha  and  PM  Poshan  have  been aligned  to  the  recommendation  of  NEP  2020. Samagra  Shiksha  is  an  Integrated  Centrally Sponsored Scheme for school education extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education. Samagra Shiksha focuses on improvement in quality of education by providing support for different interventions like in-service training of teachers and school heads, conduct of achievement surveys,  composite  school  grant  to  every  school  for  providing  a  conducive  learning environment,  grants  for  library,  sports  and  physical  activities,  etc.  Under  the  scheme, financial assistance is also provided to States and UTs for undertaking various activities to ensure  universal  access  to  education  including  opening/strengthening  of  new  schools  upto senior  secondary  level,  construction  of  school  buildings  &  additional  classrooms,  upgradation  and  running  of  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalayas,  setting  up  of  residential schools/hostels.

2.      National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN  Bharat)  has  been  launched  under  Samagra  Shiksha  for  ensuring  that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, and e-content for the same has been released in DIKSHA platform.

3.      NISHTHA integrated training programme 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 Integrated Teacher Training Programme has been introduced for different stages of school education for Teachers, Head Teachers/Principals and other stakeholders in Educational Management.

4.       A 70 indicator based matrix Performance Grading Index (PGI) has been developed to grade the States/UTs. District level Performance  Grading  Indices (PGI) has been prepared and a Web application for compilation of PGI-District has been developed.

5.      The Structured Assessment for Analyzing Learning levels (SAFAL) framework has been developed by CBSE and launched on 29 th  July, 2021 for Competency-based assessment in CBSE schools for grades 3, 5 and 8 focusing on testing for core concepts, application-based questions and higher-order thinking skills.

6.      VIDYA PRAVESH-Guidelines for three-month Play-based School Preparation Module for  Grade-I  Children,  has  been  released  on  29 th July,  2021  to  ensure  that  all  children  are exposed to a warm and welcoming environment when they enter Grade-I.

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