Lok Sabha Question No. 3802 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-24
Subject: Education for All
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Smt. Rachna Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO3802 ANSWERED ON- 24/03/2025

## EDUCATION FOR ALL

## 3802. SMT. RACHNA BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the steps being taken by the Government to ensure universal access to quality education, particularly in rural and underserved areas of the country;

(b) whether the Government has any mechanism to ensure that education is accessible to children with disabilities and the manner by which schools are being made more inclusive;

(c)  the  manner  by  which  the  Government  is  addressing  the  challenges  of  illiteracy  in  certain  areas, especially in tribal and marginalized communities; and

(d) the measures being taken by the Government to bridge the gap in educational access between urban and rural areas, particularly in terms of infrastructure and teacher availability?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a)  to  (c):  The  Department  of  School Education and Literacy is implementing an integrated centrally sponsored  scheme  for  School  education-  Samagra  Shiksha.  The  scheme  treats  school  education holistically, without segmentation from pre-primary to class XII in alignment with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and aims to ensure that all children have access to quality education  with  an  equitable  and  inclusive  classroom  environment  which  should  take  care  of  their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

Under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for implementation of  various  provisions  of  Samagra  Shiksha  Scheme  including    free  uniform  to  eligible  children  at elementary level, free textbooks at elementary level, reimbursement under RTE Act, various qualitative components  development  of  primers/textbooks  for tribal language, teaching learning materials, transport/escort facility up to secondary level, special training for age appropriate admission of out of school children and residential as well as non-residential training for older children, seasonal hostels / residential  camps,  special  training  centers,  age-appropriate  residential  and  non-residential  training, support to Out of School Children (16 to 19 years) for completion of education through NIOS/SIOS, Holistic Progress Card, bilingual teaching material and books.

Further, financial assistance is also provided to the States and UTs for  opening/strengthening of new  schools  upto  senior  secondary  level,  construction  of  school  buildings  &  additional  classrooms, development/strengthening  of  school  infrastructure  in  northern  border  areas  under  Vibrant  Village Programme, setting up, up-gradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, setting up of Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Avasiya  Vidyalayas,  construction  of  hostels  for  PVTGs  under  PMJANMAN, construction of hostels under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for unsaturated ST population, strengthening of teacher education and strengthening of DIETs/BRCs/CRCs, provision of ICT and digital interventions.

Under the student-oriented component for the children with special needs, financial assistance is provided for identification and assessment of children with special needs, aids and appliances, braille kits and books, appropriate teaching learning material and stipend to girl students with disability etc. It also has provisions for creation of differently-abled friendly infrastructure such as ramps, ramps with handrails and differently-abled friendly toilets for barrier free access in schools. Further, to improve the identification  of  CwSN,  the  Government  has  introduced  the  Prashast  App  for  early  screening  and identification  of  CwSN  in  regular  schools.  Teacher  capacity  building  programs  are  being  undertaken under NISHTHA in hybrid mode to train general teachers to address the learning needs of CwSN.

The New India Literacy Programme (NILP) popularly known as ULLAS - targets non-literates aged 15 years and above who have missed formal schooling and provide educational opportunities to them to make them literate. It is being implemented from FY 2022-23 to 2026-27. A dedicated ULLAS App has been created for registering learners and volunteer teachers. Till now, over 2.20 crore learners and more than 40 lakh volunteer teachers have registered on the app. The App also contains TLM in the form of ULLAS primers in all languages.

(d) The  Scheme  supports  creation  and  strengthening  of  infrastructure  like,  School  buildings, Additional Classrooms, Toilets, Drinking Water, Ramp and Handrails, electrifications, Boundary wall, Science labs, Library Rooms, Computer Rooms, and Major Repairs works as per state requirements.

To bridge the gap between rural and urban areas in educational access, digital initiatives like ICT Labs, Smart Classrooms, PM e-Vidya including DIKSHA and SWAYAM PRABHA DTH-TV Channels are also being supported under the scheme.

The  annual  plans  are  prepared  by  the  States  and  UTs  as  per  their  requirements/  priority including  creation/  strengthening  of  infrastructure,  support  to  teachers'  salary  etc.  and  same  is reflected in their respective Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) Proposals. These plans are then appraised and approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in the Department of School Education & Literacy in consultation with the States and UTs as per the programmatic and financial norms of the scheme and physical and financial progress of the State for the interventions approved earlier.