Lok Sabha Question No. 38 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-25
Subject: Free Education  from Class I to XII
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 38 ANSWERED ON 25 th  November, 2024

## Free Education from Class I to XII

38. Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has any plan to provide free education to all from class first to class twelfth, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; (b) whether the Government proposes to provide any other facilities to students in order to take interest for higher education, if so, the details thereof; (c)  the  budget  allocation for higher education for schools in rural and under privileged areas during the last three years; and (d)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  provide  more  funds  for  free  education

- especially in rural schools?

## ANSWER

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

(a) and (b) The Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 effective from 1st  April,  2010  is  applicable  to  all  States  and  UTs  and  mandates  the  appropriate Government to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child of the age  6  to  14  years  in  a  neighborhood  school.  Section  12(1)(c)  of  the  RTE  Act,  2009 provides  for  admission  of  children  belonging  to  weaker  sections  and  disadvantaged groups in the schools specified in sub-clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 in Class I (or below) to the extent of at least 25 percent of the strength of that class.

Samagra  Shiksha  had  been  launched  throughout  the  country  as  a  Centrally Sponsored Scheme with effect from the year 2018-19. This programme subsumes the three  erstwhile  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA),

Rashtriya  Madhyamik Shiksha  Abhiyan  (RMSA) and Teacher Education  (TE).  It  is an overarching  programme  for  the  school  education  sector  extending  from  pre-school  to class  XII  and  aims  to  ensure  inclusive  and  equitable  quality  education  at  all  levels  of school  education.  The  scheme  has  also  been  aligned  with  the  recommendations  of National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education  with  an  equitable  and  inclusive  classroom  environment  which  should  take care  of  diverse  background,  multilingual  needs,  different  academic  abilities  and  make them active participants in the learning process.

The  main  objectives  of  the  scheme  are  provision  of  quality  education  and enhancing  learning  outcomes  of  students,  bridging  social  and  gender  gaps  in  school education, ensuring minimum standards in schooling provision, support to states in the implementation  of  RTE  Act,  2009  and  strengthening  of  teacher  education  institutions throughout country including rural areas. This scheme focuses on providing support to all States/ UTs for different interventions like; in-service training of teachers and schools heads, conduct of achievement surveys at National and State level, composite school grant  to  every  school  for  providing  a  conducive  learning  environment,  library  grants, provision of textbooks and school uniforms as per eligibility, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA), remedial teaching for academically weaker students, ICT and digital initiatives, grants  for  sports  and  physical  education,  School  Evaluation,  Padhe  Bharat  Badhe Bharat (PBBB), Performance Indicators for Teachers (PINDICS), Kala Utsav, Excursion trips for students, Twinning of Schools and Student and Teacher Exchange Programme.

Also, under the Scheme financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs for Universalization  of  School  Education  including  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, construction of hostels for PVTGs under PM-JANMAN, setting up of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, construction of hostels under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for unsaturated ST population,  reimbursement under RTE Act, various qualitative components, strengthening of teacher education and strengthening of DIETs/BRCs/CRCs, provision of ICT and digital interventions.

The Samagra Shiksha scheme also gives attention to urban deprived children, children affected  by  periodic  migration  and  children  living  in  remote  and  scattered  habitations. Under  the  scheme,  provision  has  been  made  for  giving  preference  to  Special  Focus Districts  (SFDs),  Educationally  Backward  Blocks  (EEBs),  LWE  (Left  Wing  Extremism) affected districts, and aspirational districts while planning interventions.

## (c) Budget allocation under the Samagra Shiksha scheme during the last three years is as under :

|   S.No. | Year    | Revised Estimates (Rs. In crore)   |
|---------|---------|------------------------------------|
|       1 | 2021-22 | 30,000.00                          |
|       2 | 2022-23 | 32,514.67                          |
|       3 | 2023-24 | 33,000.00                          |

Source : Finance Division

A  new  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  named  Pradhan  Mantri  Schools  for  Rising  India (PM  SHRI)  has  been  launched  in  2022.  These  14500  schools,  including  elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary, are to showcase the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 and emerge as exemplar schools over a period of time, and also offer leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood. Resvised estimate of PM-SHRI scheme for the year 2023-24 was Rs. 2800 crore.

(d) The Central Government makes appropriate allocation of funds to State and Union Territories from time to time under various schemes.

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