Lok Sabha Question No. 1294 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-06
Subject: Expansion of Education Programmes
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Balak Nath

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1294 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06 th  DECEMBER, 2021

## Expansion of Education Programmes

## † 1294. SHRI BALAK NATH:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  programmes,  schemes  and  projects  being  implemented  for  the  expansion  of integrated education in the country including Rajasthan especially in the rural areas; and
- (b) the total budget allocated for the expansion of basic infrastructure of education such as  Smart  Board  Online  Education  App.  and  for  the  improvement  in  the  quality  of teachers in the schools in the rural areas for the year 2021-2022?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

(SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) : Samagra Shiksha, an overarching programme for the school education sector extending  from  pre-school  to  class  XII,  is  running  in  the  country  including  the  rural areas in the State of Rajasthan since 2018-19. The vision of the scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education and vision of National Education Policy 2020. Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  all  States  and  UTs  for implementation  of  various  interventions  like  opening  /  strengthening  of  schools, provision of free textbooks and uniforms, setting up and running of residential schools and hostels including Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose  Awasiya  Vidyalaya,  provisions  for  inclusive  education  of  Children  with  Special Needs (CWSN), transport & escort facility, in-service training of teachers,  sports and physical education, vocational education and other activities.

(b) : Under Samagra Shiksha financial assistance is provided to States/ UTs including rural  areas  inter-alia  for  various  ICT  and  Digital  initiatives  for  setting  up  of  ICT  labs, smart classrooms including support for digital boards etc. An amount of Rs. 95683.24 lakh  for  smart  class  rooms  and  an  amount  of  Rs.100379.96  lakh  for  ICT  labs  have been approved under ICT and Digital Initiatives in 2021-22.

The Department of School Education and Literacy has launched an initiative to improve learning  outcomes  at  the  Elementary  level  through  an  Integrated  Teacher  Training Programme  called  NISHTHA  -  National  Initiative  for  School  Heads'  and  Teachers' Holistic Advancement under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha in August, 2019. The aim of this training is to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students, handle diverse situations and act as first level counsellors. Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic and in order to provide continuous learning  opportunities  to  the  teachers  at  the  elementary  level,  this  Department  has launched  NISHTHA  online  using  DIKSHA  platform  in  October  2020  to  reach  out  to elementary teachers and its further extension to all as well. For 2021-22, a total fund of Rs. 39039.26 lakh was approved for NISHTHA for Foundational years and Secondary and Senior secondary level teachers.

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