Lok Sabha Question No. 2505 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-01
Subject: Declining Standard of Education in Government Schools
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Dharambir Singh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2505 TO BE ANSWERED ON 1 st  August, 2022

## Declining Standard of Education in Government Schools

## †2505. SHRI DHARAMBIR SINGH:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  level  of  education  in  Government schools is declining as compared to private schools;

- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor, State-wise; and

(c)  the  details  of  the  concrete  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  level  of education in Government schools in comparison with private schools?

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

(a)& (b): Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. Standard of education is a comprehensive  term  that  includes  learners,  teachers,  teaching  learning  process,  learning environment,  curriculum,  pedagogy,  learning  outcomes,  assessment,  etc.  Samagra  Shiksha focuses on improvement  in  quality of education by providing support for different interventions  to  all  States  and  UTs,  like  in-service  training  of  teachers  and  school  heads, conduct of achievement surveys at state and national level, composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for library, sports and physical activities, support for RashtriyaAvishkarAbhiyan, ICT and digital initiatives, School Leadership  development  programme,  remedial  teaching  for  academically  weaker  students, support for Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat, etc.

Further,  the  Government  of  India  has  been  implementing  a  programme  of  sample  based National Achievement Survey (NAS) aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of three years. The last round of NAS was held on November 12, 2021 across India covering students  of  grades  3,  5,  8  and  10.  The  aim  and  objective  of  NAS  is  to  evaluate  children's progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the health of the education system, so as  to  take  appropriate  steps  for  remedial  actions  at  different  levels.  National,  State/UT  and District  Reports  for  NAS  2021  have  been  released  on  25.05.2022  and  are  available  at http://nas.gov.in.

## (c): The following initiatives have been taken by the Government to improve the standard of education in the country:

1. The  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  SamagraShiksha  and  PM  Poshan  have  been aligned  to  the  recommendation  of  NEP  2020.SamagraShiksha  is  an  Integrated Centrally Sponsored Scheme for school education extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.  Samagra  Shiksha  focuses  on  improvement  in  quality  of  education  by providing support for different interventions like in-service training of teachers  and school  heads,  conduct  of  achievement  surveys,  composite  school  grant  to  every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for library, sports and physical  activities,  etc.  Under  the  scheme,  financial  assistance  is  also  provided  to States  and  UTs  for  undertaking  various  activities  to  ensure  universal  access  to education  including  opening/strengthening  of  new  schools  upto  senior  secondary level,  construction  of  school  buildings  &  additional  classrooms,  up-gradation  and running of Kasturba Gandhi BalikaVidyalayas, setting up of residential schools/hostels.
2. National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) has been launched under Samagra Shiksha for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN)  by  the  end  of  Grade  3,  and  e-content  for  the  same  has  been  released  in DIKSHA platform.
3. NISHTHA  integrated  training  programme  1.0,  2.0,  and  3.0  Integrated  Teacher Training Programme has been introduced for different stages of school education for Teachers, Head Teachers/Principals and other stakeholders in Educational Management.
4. Learning Outcomes for the Secondary level have been notified.
5. National  Achievement  Survey  (NAS)  2021  has  been  conducted  on  12 th November, 2021  by  the  Ministry  of  Education  to  evaluate  children's  progress  and  learning

competencies as an indicator of the health of the education system, to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels.

6. A 70 indicator based matrix Performance Grading Index (PGI) has been developed to grade  the  States/UTs.  District  level  Performance  Grading  Indices  (PGI)  has  been prepared and a Web application for compilation of PGI-District has been developed.
7. The Structured Assessment for Analyzing Learning levels (SAFAL) framework has been  developed  by  CBSE  and  launched  on  29 th July,  2021  for  Competency-based assessment  in  CBSE  schools  for  grades  3,  5  and  8  focusing  on  testing  for  core concepts, application-based questions and higher-order thinking skills.
8. VIDYA  PRAVESH-Guidelines  for  three-month  Play-based  School  Preparation Module for Grade-I Children, has been released on 29 th July, 2021 to ensure that all children are exposed to a warm and welcoming environment when they enter Grade-I.

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