Lok Sabha Question No. 2039 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-14
Subject: Annual Status of Education Report
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2039 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2022

## Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

## 2039. SHRI MAGUNTA SREENIVASULU REDDY:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government is aware that only 8% of children in rural areas studied online regularly as per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2021;
- (b)    if  so,  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  identify  the  number  of  students  with limited accessibility to digital devices; and
- (c)   the steps taken by the Government to ensure the attendance of students in interactive, live classes rather than using various platforms like television and radio?

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

(a):  Achievement  survey  released  in  the  Annual  Status  of  Education  Report  (ASER)  is conducted by a non-governmental organization.

(b) & (c): Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. However, in order to ensure that  every  student  of  the  country  gets  continued  access  to  education,  a  multi-pronged approach has been adopted. Regarding school education, to facilitate the online learning by all  students  a  comprehensive  initiative  called  PM  eVIDYA  has  been  initiated  as  part  of AtmaNirbhar  Bharat  Abhiyaan  on  17 th May,  2020,  which  unifies  all  efforts  related  to digital/online/on-air  education  to  enable  multi-mode  access  to  education.  The  initiative includes:

- 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

Further,  an  Alternate  Academic  Calendar  has  been  prepared  for  providing  learning solutions  for  grade  1  to  12  and  'Students'  Learning  Enhancement  Guidelines'  prepared  by NCERT suggest models for the following three types of scenarios to ensure that no child is deprived of reach of education:

- a) Learning Enhancement during COVID-19 for students without digital devices;
- b) Learning Enhancement during COVID-19 for students with limited accessibility to digital devices &
- c) Learning Enhancement during COVID-19 for students with digital devices.

Also, PRAGYATA guidelines issued to States/UTs to facilitate continued education through various modes. The guidelines inter-alia includes situations where internet connectivity is not available or available with very less bandwidth where resources are shared through various platforms like television, radio etc that do not depend on internet.

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 21st Century Skills and community/mohalla classes are organized. Innovation Funds of the Department are used to set up mobile school, virtual studios, virtual class rooms in schools, Continuous  Learning  Plan  (CLP)  for  States/UTs  has  been  initiated  in  all  States/UTs,  preloaded  tablets  in  various  states  and  UTs  are  effectively  used  in  remote/rural  areas  where online classes are difficult.

Under the BharatNet programme, the CSC e-Governance Services India  Ltd (CSCSPV)  of  MeitY  has  been  assigned  the  task  of  providing  Fibre  to  the  Home  (FTTH) connectivity to the Government Institutions, including schools.

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