Lok Sabha Question No. 3601 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-08
Subject: DIKSHA Platform
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam, T.R.V.S. Ramesh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3601

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH  AUGUST, 2022

## DIKSHA Platform

## 3601. SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM:

## SHRI T.R.V.S. RAMESH:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government takes serious cognizance of the fact that the DIKSHA platform has certain issues when accessed with a screen reader by children with visual disabilities;

(b) if so, the steps taken by the Government to improve;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  developed  special  e-content  for  Children  with  Disabilities (Divyang children) and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government is working to ensure that all e-books are available in an appropriate format to these children and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether there is any training provision for teachers regarding inclusive education of children with special needs and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) DIKSHA is the platform  for  providing  quality  e-content  for  school  education  in States/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform). DIKSHA  complies  with  World  Wide  Web  Consortium  (W3C)  Web  Content  Accessibility Guidelines  (WCAG)  2.0  level  AA. This  enables  people  with  visual  impairments  to  access  the website  using  assistive  technologies,  such  as  screen  readers.  Special  e-content  for  visually  and hearing impaired is developed on Digitally  Accessible  Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.  In all 3,520 textbook based ISL videos have been recorded, out  of  these  597  textbook  based  on  ISL  videos  are  uploaded  on  DIKSHA.  A  10,000  word  ISL dictionary  has  been  uploaded  on  DIKSHA and 3,474 audio books chapters have been developed and uploaded on DIKSHA.

(e) NISHTHA  2.0  (Secondary  Level)  -online  on  DIKSHA  for  secondary/senior  secondary level  teachers was launched on 29th July, 2021. The training programme covers around 10 Lakh

Teacher and School Heads at Secondary Level across all States and UTs. NCERT has developed a package including 13 Online Courses with 12 Generic modules and 56 subject specific modules for NISHTHA 2.0  and  as  on  date  33  States  and  UTs  have  initiated  this  training  programme  in  10 languages. S Autonomous Organisation under MOE, MOD & MOTA has also adopted the same.

NISHTHA  2.0  Online  on  DIKSHA  portal  has  been  developed  encompassing  twelve generic  courses  and  seven  pedagogy  courses.  Accordingly,  68  Modules  have  been  developed including:  Curriculum  and  Inclusive  Education;  ICT  in  Teaching,  Learning  and  Assessment; Personal-Social Qualities for Holistic Development of Learners; Art lntegrated Learning; Understanding Secondary Stage Learners; Health and Well Being; School Leadership Development; Vocational Education; Gender Issues in Education; Initiatives in School Education; Toy Based Pedagogy; and School Based Assessment. State can contextualize these modules in Iine with their state specific needs.

NISHTHA 3.0- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FtN) in online mode on DIKSHA platform  for  teachers  and  school  heads  of  pre-primary  to  class  V  were  launched  on  7th September,202l. The NISHTHA 3.0 - FLN envisions covering nearly 25 Lakh Teacher and School Heads at Pre-Primary and Primary Level across all states and UTs. A special package consisting of 12 online modules have been developed by NCERT for this purpose, as per objectives of NIPUN Bharat Mission. So far 33 States/UTs has initiated the programme in 11 Languages and the same has been adopted by 5 Autonomous Organisation under MOE, MOD & MOTA.

NISHTHA 3.0 Online on DIKSHA portal has been developed with the aim to help teachers design experiences for holistic development of each child and comprises of 12 Modules namely: Introduction to FLN Mission; Shifting towards Competency Based Education; Understanding the Learner;  Transacting  3  months  Play  Based  School  Preparation  Module  for  Grade  I  Children  and Balvatika;  Foundational  Language  and  Literacy;  Foundational  Numeracy;  Learning  Assessment; Involvement of Parents and Community; Integration of ICT in Teaching, Learning and Assessment; Multi lingual Education; Toy Based Pedagogy; and School Leadership.

All the online material under NISHTHA programme is available of the NISHTHA portal of NCERT under the following link: https://itpd.ncert.gov.in/

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