Lok Sabha Question No. 902 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-07
Subject: Quality of Education
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Subhash Ramrao Bhamre

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 902 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2022

## Quality of Education

## 902. DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether quality of education has been severely affected due to Covid-19 pandemic;
- (b) if  so,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  providing  quality  education  during Covid-19 in various districts of Maharashtra;
- (c) the  facilities  provided/proposed  to  be  provided  by  the  Government  to  encourage digital education in Maharashtra along with the names of the schemes for the benefit of children of economically weaker sections; and
- (d) the other steps taken by the Government to provided quality education to the children of poor families not having smart phones in Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (DR. SUBHAS SARKAR)

(a) to (d) Due  to  the  spread  of  COVID-19  pandemic,  schools  in  States  and  Union Territories  (UT)  were  closed  as  a  precautionary  measure  to  protect  the  students.  This  has interrupted  the  learning  of  students  from  pre-  school  to  grade  12. During  the  pandemic, Ministry of Education has held several consultations with the States and UTs to assess the various  aspects  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic. After  discussion  with  the  States  and  UTs,  a multi-pronged approach has been adopted for leveraging technology to reach the students in States/UTs. 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

Under ICT component of centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha; Rs. 998.80 crore for 2020-21 and Rs 1960.60 crore for 2021-22 have been approved for States/UTs for ICT and smart classes. In the state of Maharashtra, Rs. 35.00 crore for 2020-21 and Rs.21.30 crore 2021-22 have been approved.

Where the digital facility (mobile device/ DTH television) is not available, Ministry of Education  has  taken  many  initiatives  like  Textbooks,  worksheet  supplied  to  residence  of learners,  Handbook  on  21 st 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,  pre-loaded  tablets  under  Samagra  Shiksha  in  various  states  and  UTs  are effectively used in remote/rural areas where online classes are difficult. Further in order to provide continuous professional development opportunities to the teachers at the elementary level,  this  Department  launched  the  National  Initiative  for  School  Heads'  and  Teachers' Holistic  Advancement (NISHTHA) online training programme using DIKSHA platform in October 2020. NISHTHA online for elementary level covered 18 modules in 11 languages, including use of ICT in teaching-learning. Similarly, NISHTHA 2.0 and NISHTHA 3.0 have been launched for teachers at secondary and primary level respectively.

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