Lok Sabha Question No. 1362 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-11
Subject: Quality Education of Tribal Students
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Gyaneshwar Patil, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Aparajita Sarangi, Dhal Singh Bisen, Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, Annasaheb Shankar Jolle, Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil, Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Raghu Ramakrishna Raju Kanumuru, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Krishna Pal Singh Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 1362

TO BE ANSWERED ON- 11/12/2023

## QUALITY EDUCATION OF TRIBAL STUDENTS

## 1362.  SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL:

DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE

PATIL:

SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI:

DR. DHAL SINGH BISEN:

DR. (PROF.) KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI:

SHRI ANNASAHEB SHANKAR JOLLE:

SHRI UNMESH BHAIYYASAHEB

PATIL:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

PROF. RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI:

SHRI KANUMURU RAGHU RAMA

KRISHNA RAJU:

DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

DR. KRISHNA PAL SINGH YADAV:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken steps to address the educational disparities faced by tribal students to ensure their equitable access to quality education;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the  latest  initiatives  launched  by  the  Government  to  enhance  the  provision  of  basic  amenities including education in tribal regions across the country; and
- (d)  whether  these  schemes  are  being  monitored  and  evaluated  their  success  and  identify  areas  for improvement?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS SHRI ARJUN MUNDA

(a)  to  (d): Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  is  implementing  Central  Sector  Scheme  of  Eklavya  Model Residential School (EMRS) for providing quality education to tribal students in their own environment. For the first  time  since  independence,  in  2019, Government  of  India gave  special attention  to  tribal education and decided to set up an EMRS in each block having more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000  tribal persons (as per  census 2011)  in remote, forest areas, hilly and  difficult areas.   Accordingly,  Ministry  has  set the  target  to  set  up  740  EMRSs  to  enroll  around  3.5  lakh  ST students across the country. National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), an autonomous organization, has been established to manage and implement the scheme of EMRS. Under the scheme following facilities are provided.

-  Free quality education to tribal students ensuring their all-around development.
-  Fully residential school for class from 6th to 12th Standard with a strength of 480 students (240 Girls and 240 Boys).
-  The infrastructure available in each School is classrooms, administrative block, Labs, Hostel, Sports Facility, Staff Residences etc.
-  The Department of Expenditure has approved 52 posts for each EMRS with a total vacancy of 38480 teaching and non-teaching staff. Recruitment is to be carried out in a phased manner from 2022-23 to 2026-27.
-  Study  materials,  and  uniforms  (including  customized  climatic  clothing  for  hilly  areas)  are provided free of cost.
-  Extra-curricular activities like dance, music, painting, trekking, excursions/exposure visits, study tours.

Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  is  also  implementing  following  Scholarship  Schemes  to  promote  and encourage basic and higher education amongst ST population: -

- i)    Pre-Matric Scholarship for ST students (Class IX and X)
2. ii)    Post Matric Scholarship for ST students (Class XI and above)
3. iii)    National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education for ST students.
4. iv)    National Overseas Scholarship for ST students.

Under these schemes funds are directly transferred to students' Bank account through DBT. Besides providing educational benefits to tribal children, Government has also formulated the scheme of 'Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAAGY)' for integrated development of villages in time-bound manner during the years 2021-22 to 2025-26. Under the Scheme, 36,428 villages having at least 50% tribal population and 500 STs across States/ UTs with notified STs have been identified for undertaking development programmes/ activities through convergence approach amongst Ministries to bridge gaps prominently in 8 sectors of development viz. Road connectivity (Internal and Inter village /block),  Telecom  connectivity  (Mobile  /internet),  School,  Anganwadi  Centres,  Health  Sub-  Centre, Drinking water facility, Drainage and solid waste management and bring about saturation. JANMAN) that aims to saturate PVTG households and habitations with basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road

Further, Government has recently launched Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PMand telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

All the schemes mentioned above have in-built mechanism to monitor the progress of implementation of the schemes. Besides, review meetings with stakeholders are held periodically to address any issue arising  out  of  implementation  process  and  adequate  remedial  measures  is  taken  to  remove  the bottlenecks, if any.

In addition to this, Ministry of Education, Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing an integrated centrally sponsored scheme for School education- Samagra Shiksha for all, including tribal children. The scheme provides support for the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The Scheme is now aligned 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.

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