Lok Sabha Question No. 951 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-26
Subject: Digital Infrastructure in Education Policy
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sisir Kumar Adhikari

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

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 951

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 th  JULY, 2021

## Digital Infrastructure in Education Policy

## 951. SHRI SISIR KUMAR ADHIKARI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that the proposed New Education Policy NEP-2020 aims to create a robust digital infrastructure in the education sector targetting uninterrupted learning  process  even  during  unprecedented  circumstances  and  if  so,  the  details thereof ; (b)  whether  the  legal  complexities  surrounding  the  applicability  of  two  operative policies namely, the Right of Children Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and the  New  Education  Policy,  2020  have  not  been  solved  yet  therefor  and  if  so,  the details thereof; (c) whether starting of English and Hindi from class six is one of the major reason of
- present school dropout therefor; and
- (d) if so, the comprehensive action plan therefor?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) NEP  has  Chapter  23  on  TECHNOLOGY  USE  AND  INTEGRATION  and Chapter  24  on  ONLINE  AND  DIGITAL  EDUCATION,  where  details  of  all  policy initiatives and action points are given.

## The highlights are:

- An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) to be created (Para 23.3).
- E-content will continue to be developed by all States in all regional languages, as  well  as  by  the  NCERT,  CIET,  CBSE,  NIOS,  and  other  bodies/institutions, and will be uploaded onto the DIKSHA platform (Para 23.6).
- CIET  will  be  strengthened  to  promote  and  expand  DIKSHA  as  well  as  other education technology initiatives. (Para 23.6).
- Pilot studies for online education.
- Apart from these other initiatives in paras 24.4 & 24.5 have been mentioned.

(b) NEP  2020  took  into  consideration  the  previous  policies  and  The  Right  of Children to Free and Compulsory Education, 2009 and is built on the foundational pillars  of  Access,  Equity,  Quality,  Affordability  and  Accountability.  The  policy  is synchronized  with  the  basic  objective  of  RTE  Act  which  is  to  provide  free  and compulsory  elementary  education  and  is  also  aligned  to  the  2030  Agenda  for Sustainable Development and holistic development of learners.

(c) and (d) As per the Report of National Statistical  Survey  (NSS)  75th  Round, the reasons  for not attending or  dropping  out of school, inter-alia, include poverty/economic  reasons,  child  not  interested  in  studies,  children  engaged  in domestic activities or in economic activities.

This Department has developed an online module for compiling the data of Out of School Children (OoSC) identified by each State/UT and their mapping with Special Training Centres (STC) on the PRABANDH Portal (http://samagrashiksha.in).  Financial  assistance  at  Rs.  2000  per  child  is  provided under  Samagra  Shiksha  for  bridge  course  and  mainstreaming  of  out  of  school children through NIOS/SIOS. Also, Bridge Course Modules have been developed by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for bridging the learning gaps of Out of School Children studying in Special Training Centers (STC) under the provision of RTE Act, 2009.

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