Lok Sabha Question No. 2513 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-01
Subject: Creating Awareness about Education Schemes
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, T.R.V.S. Ramesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2513 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2022

## Creating Awareness about Education Schemes

## 2513.  SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE: SHRI T.R.V.S. RAMESH:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the number of central schemes being run by the Government in rural and backward areas of Maharashtra and number of beneficiaries benefitted out of these schemes during each of the last three years;

(b) whether the Government is aware that most of the population living in rural and backward areas are unaware of these schemes; and

(c) if so, the steps taken by the Government to create awareness among the children and their parents in utilizing the available schemes including Tamil Nadu?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a):  Education  is  in  the  concurrent  list  of  the  Constitution  and  majority  of  the  schools  are under  domain  of  respective  State  and  UT  Government.  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 and backward areas in the State of Maharashtra since 201819.  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.  All  children  studying  in Government schools in Maharashtra are beneficiaries of Samagra Shiksha scheme.

Under  'Pradhan  Mantri  Poshan  Shakti  Nirman'  (PM  POSHAN)  one  hot  cooked  meal  in Government and Government aided schools is provided to students at the elementary level of education.

Under National Mean-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, scholarship is awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage.

The Allotted quota of fresh scholarships under NMMSS for Maharashtra State is 11682 per year. The details of the number of fresh and renewal scholarships released during last three years to Maharashtra State.

| Financial Year   |   No. of Scholarships (Fresh + Renewals) |
|------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 2019-20          |                                    30035 |
| 2020-21          |                                    59152 |
| 2021-22          |                                    36424 |

(b)  and  (c):  The  Ministry  of  Education,  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  has taken various steps to create awareness among the different stakeholders including children and  parents  and  rural  population.  Samagra  Shiksha  is  an  integrated  centrally  sponsored scheme  which  envisages  all  round  development  of  children.  Under  Samagra  Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs for Community Mobilization activities @ ₹ 1500 per school for Government Schools. The Community Mobilisation activities are held  to  enhance  Community  participation  and  monitoring  for  universal  access,  equity  and quality.  Workshops/Lectures/Programmes  are  done  for  creating  Awareness  on  RTE  Act, Learning Outcomes etc.

Training to School Management Committee (SMC)/School Management and Development Committee (SMDC) is provided for their Capacity building. The financial norms for the same are up to ₹ 3000 per school for Government schools.

Department of School Education & Literacy, in coordination with State Governments and UT Administrations, has been observing Swachhata Pakhwada from the year 2016 from 1st -15th September  every  year.  The  schools  and  students  across  all  states  and  UTs  have  been participating whole-heartedly in the Swachhata Pakhwada every year. As per report furnished by States/UTs, 3,78,15,074 students of 7,82,827 schools, participated in Swachhata Pakhwada, 2021.

A teacher's fest, 'Shikshak Parv' was especially organized from 8th to 25th September 2020 for  discussing  various  recommendations  of  National  Education  Policy  (NEP)  2020  and  its implementation strategies, which attracted around 15 lakh suggestions. Department of School Education and Literacy incorporated these suggestions in development of an indicative and suggestive NEP Implementation Plan for School Education, called 'Students' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement through Quality Education (SARTHAQ)'.

Another teacher's fest in the series, 'Shikshak Parv- 2021' was organized from 7th to 17th September 2021 to generate awareness about the implementation of New Education Policy. Shikshak Parv- 2021 experienced wide participation from practitioners of school education like Teachers, Principals, etc. who shared their experiences on webinars based on the theme: 'Quality and Sustainable Schools: Learnings from Schools in India'.

A  large  number  of  teachers,  principals,  students,  parents  and  stakeholders  attended  the Shikshak  Parv  inaugural  conclave  and  subsequent  webinars across the country.  The celebration  of  'Shikshak  Parv  2021'  not  only  encouraged  innovative  practices  to  ensure improved  quality, inclusive practices and  sustainability in school education but also developed confidence in all Education Stakeholders for a successful implementation of the National Education Policy-2020 across the country.

Ministry regularly undertakes extensive print  &  audio visual media  campaign, nation-wide awareness  programme  including  Kala  Jathas,  Road  shows,  Public  meetings,  Padayatras; advertisements on railway tickets and bus panels etc. to generate awareness about the benefits of education for adults.

Further,  'One  year  achievement  booklet'  on  various  initiatives  undertaken  by  Ministry  of Education  for  implementation  of  the  NEP-2020  was  released  on  24th  August  2021.  It highlighted  the  efforts  made  by  the  Ministry  for  the  implementation  of  NEP  2020  in  a mission mode and accomplishing 62 major milestones with a view to transform the school education sector.

In addition, a very successful social media campaign was run by the Department of School Education  and  Literacy  in  the  months  of  December,  2021  and  January,  2022  for  creating awareness among masses regarding the numerous achievements and initiatives taken by the Department under the purview of NEP-2020. A campaign with theme #NEP2020InAction, was run on Twitter from Dec 1, 2021 onwards. It highlighted Ministry's various schemes/ initiatives  including  those  targeted  at  the  rural  India.  Posts  with  this  hashtag  reached 55,67,126 people till 28th February, 2022.

Department School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India has launched  a  100  days  Nation  Wide  Reading  Campaign  called  Padhe  Bharat  Badhe  Bharat starting  from  1st  January  2022  so  that  each  child  learns  to  read  with  comprehension,  in  a joyful manner, as per the vision of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Social media posts with  #100DaysReadingCampaign  have  reached  76,14,646  people  and  #PadheBharat  has reached 75,93,859 people.

Under PM POSHAN Scheme, provision has been made in the Guidelines for the awareness generation of the parents and other community members to know about the rights of their children  w.r.t.  Mid-Day  Meal.  Para  6.3  of  the  Guidelines  envisages  the  'Display  of Information under Right to Information Act'. Ministry has requested all States/UTs to issue necessary  instruction  to  spread  awareness  among  the  children  and  their  parents  about  the Scheme.  Posts  creating  awareness  on  #PMPoshanScheme  on  Twitter  reached  50,51,294 people till 30th September, 2021.

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