Lok Sabha Question No. 5954 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-30
Subject: Access to Quality Education
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri N K Premachandran

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

## LOKSABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-5954 ANSWERED ON -30/03/2026

## Access to Quality Education

5954. Shri N K Premachandran:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has initiated any action to improve the quality of education in the country, if so, the details thereof;

(b)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  ensure  access  to  quality  education  for  students  in rural areas, low income families and marginalized communities and if so, the details of action taken in this regard;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  initiated  any  action  to  prevent  dropouts  from  schools  due  to poverty, child labour etc. and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government has initiated any action to provide basic facilities like toilets, clean drinking water, electricity, library and laboratories in all schools in the country, if so, the details thereof;

(e)  whether  the  Government  initiated  any  action  to  increase  the  Government  funding  for infrastructure development and if so, the details thereof;

(f)  whether  the  Government  has  initiated  any  action  to  recruit  more  qualified  teachers,  if  so, the details thereof; and

(g) the details of initiatives taken by the Government to update the curriculum?

## ANSWER

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

(a)to(c):   The Department of School Education & Literacy is implementing an integrated scheme for school education - Samagra Shiksha, which covers the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII.  The  scheme  treats  school  education  as  a  continuum  and  has  been  aligned  with  the recommendations of NEP 2020 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  the  scheme,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  States  and  UTs  for  undertaking various activities 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  border  areas  under  Vibrant  Village Programme through the convergence of existing scheme of DOSE&L, setting up, 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, free uniforms to eligible children and free text books at elementary level, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment & retention drives. Special training for ageappropriate admission of out of school children and residential as well as non-residential training for  older  children,  seasonal  hostels  /  residential  camps,  special  training  centers  at  worksites, transport/  escort  facility  etc.  are  also  supported  to  bring  out  of  school  children  to  the  formal schooling system.

Samagra Shiksha focuses on improvement of quality of education by providing support for different interventions to all States and UTs, like in-service training of teachers and school heads, conduct of achievement surveys at state and national level, composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for library, sports and physical activities, support for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, support of Tinkering Labs, ICT and digital initiatives, School Leadership development programme, remedial teaching for academically weaker students, introduction of new pedagogical and curricular structure, Early Childhood Care and Education, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and Transforming Assessment for Student Development, Experiential and Competency based Learning etc.

Further,  under  Pradhan  Mantri  Poshan  Shakti  Nirman  (PM  POSHAN)  Yojna,  one  hot cooked meal is provided to the students at elementary level (including Balvatika) in Government and Government-aided schools. Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) schools are being set up as NEP 2020 exemplar schools and are expected to become the template for other schools.

However, Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are  under  the  administrative  domain  of  the  respective  State/UT  Government  which  are  the appropriate Government under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

(d)&(e):  The Central Government provides financial assistance to States/UTs under the Centrally sponsored  Scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha  for  strengthening  of  existing  government  schools  for creation and augmentation of infrastructure facilities like toilets, clean drinking water, electricity, library and laboratories  based on Annual Work Plan & budget(AWP&B) proposals prepared by them as per their needs and priority and gaps determined from Unified District Information System for  Education  (UDISE)  database. These plans  are then  appraised and approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in the Department of School Education and Literacy in consultation with the State/UT as per the programmatic and financial norms of the scheme, physical and financial progress of works sanctioned earlier and availability of budgetary resources.

(f): Matters relating to recruitment, service conditions and deployment of teachers fall within administrative domain of the concerned States/UTs. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, States/UTs are supported in undertaking rational and transparent deployment of teacher, including through online systems, to ensure equitable availability of teachers in rural and underserved  areas.  States/UTs  are  also  encouraged  to  adopt  school  complex/cluster-based approaches  and  teacher-sharing  mechanisms  to  address  localised  shortages.  Further,  under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs to maintain appropriate Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) for various levels of schooling, as per norms prescribed in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, as amended from time to time.

(g): In alignment with NEP 2020, NCERT has developed the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 after detailed consultation with the States/UTs and other relevant stakeholders.  NCF-SE 2023 is a self-explanatory document. Since education is in the concurrent list, States/UTs have been implementing NCF-SE 2023 and have the flexibility to adopt or adapt the recommendations of NEP 2020 in accordance with their specific contextual needs and priorities.

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