Lok Sabha Question No. 143 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-19
Subject: Quality Education in Uttar Pradesh
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Keshari Devi Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 143 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 th  July, 2021

## Quality Education in Uttar Pradesh

## †143. SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

(a) the steps taken by the Government for quality education of children during COVID - 19 in various districts of Uttar Pradesh including Prayagraj ;

(b)  the  facilities  provided/  proposed  to  be  provided  by  the  Government  to  encourage  digital education  in  Uttar  Pradesh  along  with  the  names  of  the  schemes  for  benefits  of  children  of economically weaker sections ; and

(b) the steps taken/ to be taken by them Government to provide quality education to the children of poor families not having smart phones in UP ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a):  Education  is  in  Concurrent  List  of  the  Constitution.  During  COVID-19,  the  Central Government has taken various steps to ensure quality education of all children across the country including Uttar Pradesh, through various means. A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has  been  initiated  which  aims  to  unify  all  efforts  related  to  digital/online/on-air  education  to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative  includes  DIKSHA,  SWAYAM, SWAYAM PRABHA TV Channels, use of Doordarshan and AIR Networks. Further, 'Pragyata' guidelines were issued to States/UTs to facilitate continued education through various digital/electronic modes. The guidelines, inter-alia, includes situations where internet connectivity is not available or available with very less bandwidth, resources are shared through various platforms like television, radio etc. that do not depend on internet connectivity.

The  State  Government  of  Uttar  Pradesh  has  informed  that  that  it  has  taken  inter-alia  the following steps to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on education of school children:

- i. A household survey was conducted to identify the Out-of-School Children (OoSC) and ensure their enrollment in age-appropriate classes.
- ii. Prerna Lakshya App has been devised to enable students' from Grades 1-5 to practice Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) learning competencies.
- iii. Online  quiz  for  all  students  from  Grade  1-8  and  e-Monitoring  for  teachers  has  been launched  on  e-Pathshala  in  June  2021.  The  mentors  conduct  online  sessions  with schools as a substitute for their school visits in regular circumstances.

(b): The  State  Government  of  Uttar  Pradesh  has  reported  various  initiatives  to  encourage digital education including for the children of economically weaker sections, as under:

- i. About 800 TV episodes were created for broadcast over Doordarshan. Contents have been  uploaded  on  DIKSHA  and  are  shared  by  WhatsApp  in  coherence  with  the  TV broadcast schedule. Recently, a new academic calendar has been developed.
- ii. Energized textbooks (ETB): In grades 1 to 8, for all core subjects (14), 77 ETBs have been developed with around 1300 QR codes which are live on DIKSHA.
- iii. VidyaDaan program was started with 11 projects covering around 55 ETBs.
- iv. e-Pathshala1.0 was  launched  to  cater  to  the  learning  need  during  the  lockdown, focusing on two major areas - Content creation and dissemination.
- v. Content Dissemination -
- WhatsApp -All 1.5L  schools  (including Upper  primary)  created  at least  one WhatsApp  group  with  their  students.  The  content  was  sent  each  morning  on  the WhatsApp groups.
- e-Pathshala  2.0: Launched in  mid-September,  along  with  streamlining  of  the  online content,  a  strand  of  offline  access  was  included  where  teachers  would  call  parents  to schools and guide them on what to and how to teach students at home.

(c): To provide quality education to the children of poor families not having smart phones, the State Government of Uttar Pradesh has reported initiatives, as under:

- i. Weekly home visits by teachers to inform parents about the initiatives taken under the Mission Prerna, and enabling parents to help achieve the Prerna Lakshya for their child.
- ii. Mohalla  class  initiative :  The  Mohalla  class  initiative  is  undertaken  to  bring  the education to children doorstep while ensuring the safety of both teachers and students.
- iii. Engaging  volunteers :  At  the  district  level,  volunteers  were  trained  to  take  remedial classes  for  students  so  that  they  achieve  the  learning  outcome  of  their  class  and  can bridge the learning gaps.
- iv. Worksheets were distributed among the students during community visits by teachers. The  remedial  teaching  materials  based  on  worksheet  assessment  were  provided  to students to fulfill the learning gaps.

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