Lok Sabha Question No. 82 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-19
Subject: Education During CORONA
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Dean Kuriakose, Shankar Lalwani, Sunita Duggal

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 82 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2021

## Education During CORONA

## 82. ADV. DEAN KURIAKOSE: SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI: SHRIMATI SUNITA DUGGAL:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  on  the  impact  of  COVID-19  induced disruption on the education levels of students of our country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof,  State-wise  along  with  the  manner  in  which  different  learning outcomes have been impacted including tribal population of the country;
- (c) whether the Government has made any special arrangements to promote online education in  view  of  COVID  -  19  pandemic  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not  the  reasons therefor;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  taken  into  account  the  remote  villages  where  there  is  no internet facility and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the other steps taken by the Government to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on learning outcomes of students?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) & (b) Education  being  in  the  concurrent  list  of  the  Constitution  and  majority  of  the schools, colleges and university are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments.  A sample  survey  was  conducted  in  the  month  of  July,  2020  for  schools  of      Kendriya  Vidyalaya Sangathan  (KVS),  and  Navodaya  Vidyalaya  Samiti  (NVS)  by  the  Department.  Subsequently, further  surveys  were  conducted  in  early  2021  regarding  availability  of  various  forms  of  digital devices with children. NVS has reported 92.95% and KVS has more than 98% of students having full or partial access to some digital device. States/UTs were advised vide letter dated 01.02.2021 to conduct survey of children with access and without access to digital devices. Details of outcome of survey conducted by States/UTs on children without digital devices is at Annexure.

(c) to (e) A  multi-pronged  approach  has  been  adopted  leveraging  technology  to  reach  the students. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA), study webs of active-learning for young aspiring minds (SWAYAM),  PRAGYATA guidelines on digital education,  e-textbooks and e-content on national repository of open educational resources (NROER), online virtual labs

(OLABS) for practical's related e-content, activity-based and highly engaging modules for special resources  for  teachers  focusing  upon  experiential  learning  and  competency-based  education, NISHTHA (national initiative for school heads and teachers for their holistic advancement) online for capacity building programme for elementary school teachers and school heads etc. are used by schools, to provide learning facilities.

In order to further promote the Online education, UGC has notified necessary regulation, which  facilitates  the  Universities  to  offer  full-fledged  Online  Program.  Further,  the  current provisions of 20 per cent Online courses in a programme, as per provisions of UGC SWAYAM and  ODL  Regulations,  enhanced  up  to  maximum  40  per  cent  for  implementation  considering 'National interest during COVID-19' and also to ensure effective utilization of e-resources.  The Ministry  of  Education  has  also  launched  Annual  Refresher  Programme  in  Teaching  (ARPIT),  a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 1 higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM. Various digital initiatives are being undertaken by Ministry of education  viz.  SWAYAM,  SWAYAM Prabha,  National Digital  Library  (NDL),  Virtual  Lab,  eYantra, FOSSEE (Free Open-Source Software for Education)etc to ensure quality education to the students.    Quality  Online  courses  are  provided  through  SWAYAM  which  is  an  indigenously developed MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) platform.

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

Initiatives like DIKSHA, Swayam Prabha, Swayam MOOCs, ePathshala, NIOS content are being used extensively by students.

The initiatives taken by the Government are available in public domain. Link of the same is https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload\_files/mhrd/files/DOSEL\_COMPILATION\_ON\_COVI D\_ACTIVITIES.pdf .

Where  the  internet  facility  is  not  available,  Ministry  of  Education  has  taken  many initiatives  like  One Class One Channel of SWAYAM PRABHA is being used to impart education through TV and One DTH channel is being operated specifically for hearing impaired students in sign  language.    Community  Radio  Stations  and  a  podcast  called  Shiksha  Vani  of  CBSE, Textbooks,  worksheet  supplied  to  residence  of  learners,  Handbook  on  21 st Century  Skills. Innovation Funds of Department of School Education & Literacy 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,  pre-loaded  tablets  under  Samagra  Shiksha  in  various  states  and UTs are effectively used in remote/rural areas where online classes are difficult.

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  82  ASKED  BY  HON'BLE  MEMBERS  OF  PARLIAMENT  ADV.  DEAN KURIAKOSE, SHRI  SHANKAR  LALWANI  AND SHRIMATI SUNITA  DUGGAL REGARDING EDUCATION DURING CORONA.

|   S. No. | States/UTs                          | Number of children without digital devices   |
|----------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman &Nicobar Islands            | NA                                           |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh                      | 201568                                       |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                   | NA                                           |
|        4 | Assam                               | 3106255                                      |
|        5 | Bihar                               | 14336007                                     |
|        6 | Chandigarh                          | 16032                                        |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                        | 28.27%                                       |
|        8 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu | 18849                                        |
|        9 | Delhi                               | 4%                                           |
|       10 | Goa                                 | NA                                           |
|       11 | Gujarat                             | 591590                                       |
|       12 | Haryana                             | 1034000                                      |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh                    | 22259                                        |
|       14 | Jammu &Kashmir                      | 70%                                          |
|       15 | Jharkhand                           | 3252255                                      |
|       16 | Karnataka                           | 3131098                                      |
|       17 | Kerala                              | 95283                                        |
|       18 | Ladakh                              | 43876                                        |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                         | 2439                                         |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh                      | 70%                                          |
|       21 | Maharashtra                         | NA                                           |
|       22 | Manipur                             | NA                                           |
|       23 | Meghalaya                           | 85659                                        |
|       24 | Mizoram                             | 44062                                        |
|       25 | Nagaland                            | 33150                                        |
|       26 | Odisha                              | 1508937                                      |
|       27 | Puducherry                          | 8314                                         |
|       28 | Punjab                              | 42.85                                        |
|       29 | Rajasthan                           | 0                                            |
|       30 | Sikkim                              | 21000                                        |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu                          | 1750000                                      |
|       32 | Telangana                           | 117570                                       |
|       33 | Tripura                             | 13909                                        |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh                       | NA                                           |
|       35 | Uttarakhand                         | 214471                                       |
|       36 | West Bengal                         | Survey is in Progress                        |