Lok Sabha Question No. 96 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-19
Subject: Education in rural Areas
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam, Chandra Prakash Joshi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 96 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 th  July, 2021

## Education in rural Areas

96. SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  steps  to  improve  the  Standard  of Education and school infrastructure in rural India; (b) if so, the details thereof; and (c) the steps taken by the Government to improve education along with the funds disbursed  for  Government/schools  for  infrastructure  such  as  library,  laboratory, sports facilities and teaching aids during the last three years and if so, the details
- thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a)  &  (b):  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, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education, across  the  country  including  the  rural  areas.  The  scheme  provides  support  to States and UTs for strengthening of infrastructure in schools,  universal access, bringing  gender  equality,  promoting  inclusive  education,  quality  of  education, financial support for teachers' salary, digital initiatives, entitlements  under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 including uniforms and textbooks, pre-school education, vocational education, sports and physical education and strengthening of teacher education institutions.
- (c):    Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  the  details  of  expenditure  under  Non-recurring components  for  strengthening  infrastructure  in  schools  all  across  the  country during last three years are provided as follows:

| Details of Expenditure (in crore)   | Details of Expenditure (in crore)   | Details of Expenditure (in crore)   |
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 2018-2019                           | 2019-2020                           | 2020-2021                           |
| 2896.45                             | 4165.16                             | 4882.83                             |

Further,  in  order  to  improve  the  education  standards  in  the  country,  the Government has taken several steps:-

1.  Central RTE Rules have been amended on 20th February, 2017 to include reference  on  class-wise,  subject-wise  Learning  Outcomes  at  Elementary level.
2.  National Achievement Survey (NAS) is conducted to enable States/UTs to identify gaps in learning outcomes, and take remedial steps.
3.  A  70  indicator  based  matrix  Performance  Grading  Index  (PGI)  has  been developed to grade the States/UTs.
4.  NISHTHA  (National  Initiative  for  School  Heads  and  Teachers  Holistic Advancement),  an  Integrated  Teacher  Training  Programme  has  been introduced.
5.  Learning Outcomes for Secondary level have been notified.
6.  The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) was entrusted to conduct teachers training through ODL (Open Distance Learning) mode, which has been completed by about 9.58 lakh teachers.

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