Lok Sabha Question No. 2030 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-14
Subject: Education During Pandemic
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2030 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2022

## Education During Pandemic

## 2030.  SHRI T.R. BAALU:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government concurs with the view that the education system now needs not only an infusion of resources for multiple years but also a strengthened focus on the needs of the poor and disadvantaged children;
- (b) if so, the initiatives taken/being taken by the Government keeping in view the fact that the vast majority of the 260 million children enrolled in pre- schools and schools, especially in Government schools, did not have meaningful structured learning opportunities during the last 20 months of school closures; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a)  to  (c)  The Government  of  India  launched  Samagra  Shiksha-an  Integrated  Scheme for  school education, w.e.f. 2018-19, as an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII  and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality  education at all levels of school education.  Samagra Shiksha has been aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in order to ensure inclusive and equitable, quality and holistic school education. The major  interventions,  across  all  levels  of  school  education,  under  the  scheme  are:  (i)  Universal Access  including  Infrastructure  Development  and  Retention;  (ii)  Foundational  Literacy  and Numeracy,  (iii)  Gender  and  Equity;  (iv)  Inclusive  Education;  (v)  Quality  and  Innovation;  (vi) Financial  support  for  Teacher  Salary;    (vii)  Digital  initiatives;  (viii)  Right  To  Education  (RTE) Entitlements  including  uniforms,  textbooks  etc.;  (ix)  Support  for  Early  Childhood  Care  and Education  (ECCE);  (x)  Vocational  Education;  (xi)  Sports  and  Physical  Education;  and  (xii) Strengthening  of  Teacher  Education  and  Training.  Samagra  Shiksha  also  has  a  clear  focus  on bridging  and  eliminating  gender  differences  in  enrolment,  retention  and  quality  of  learning. Samagra  Shiksha  also  focuses  on  improvement  in  quality  of  education  by  providing  funds  for digital/online Education.

The  spread  of  COVID-19  pandemic  has  impacted  school  education  across  the  world. Schools  in  States  and  Union  Territories  were  closed  as  a  precautionary  measure  to  protect  the students from Novel COVID-19 (Corona) virus. This has interrupted the learning of students from pre- school to grade 12. Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. During pandemic, Ministry of Education had several consultations with the States and UTs to assess the various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a view of addressing the issues related to gaps and/or loss of learning among students, during and after the lockdown, National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) has prepared 'Alternative Academic Calendar' which is a Week-wise learning plan for grades 1 to 12. It consists of interesting activities and challenges related to topics/themes in the syllabus. It maps the topics/themes with the learning outcomes & facilitates teachers/parents to assess the progress in students' learning in a variety of ways. Also links for e-resources have been provided for those learners who have access to the internet. NCERT has also developed bridge course modules for out-of-school children including various activities which are helpful for bridging the learning gaps and  the  States/UTs  have  also  been  requested  to  prepare  and  implement  School  Readiness Module/Bridge Course in classrooms for initial one or two months for each grade. In addition the Department vide letter dated 4th May, 2021 has shared a comprehensive Covid Action Plan with States/UTs and other stakeholders for mitigating the loss of learning.

A National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy called 'National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)' has been launched by the  Ministry  of  Education  (MoE)  on  5 th July  2021  under  the  aegis  of  Samagra  Shiksha.  The National Mission lays down priorities and actionable agendas for States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency  in  foundational  literacy  and  numeracy  for  every  child  by  grade  3.  Vidya  Pravesh module has been launched for class 1 students. This is a play  based 3 months school preparation program for children entering in Class I.

In addition, a comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiated which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes the following components:

- DIKSHA  the  nation's  digital  infrastructure  for  providing  quality  e-content  for  school education in states/UTs:  and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform)
- One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel)
- Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani
- Special  e-content  for  visually  and  hearing  impaired  developed  on  Digitally  Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube

SWAYAM is a programme initiated by Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality. The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged and to bridge the digital divide for students.

Where  the  digital  facility  (mobile  device/  DTH  television)  is  not  available,  Ministry  of Education has taken many initiatives like Community Radio Stations and a podcast called Shiksha Vani of CBSE, Textbooks, worksheet supplied to residence of learners, Handbook on 21 st Century Skills and community/mohalla classes. Innovation Funds under Samagra Shiksha have been used to set up mobile school, virtual studios, virtual class rooms in schools, Continuous Learning Plan (CLP), pre-loaded tablets etc. in various states and UTs in remote/rural areas where online classes are difficult. Further, in order to provide continuous professional development opportunities to the teachers at  the  elementary  and  secondary  level,  this  Department  launched  the  NISHTHA  online training programme using DIKSHA platform in October 2020.