(a) whether the proposed New Education Policy is being formulated to decide role of the students in nation building according to the requirements of the country and to curb their foreign migration and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether any scheme has been formulated to remove shortage of schools, buildings, facilities, teachers and subject teachers in the country; and
(c) if so, the details thereof along with the budget earmarked for the purpose?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)
(a): Presently, the Government is in the process of formulating a New Education Policy (NEP) which aims to meet the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement with regard to quality education, innovation and research, aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge and to eliminate the shortage of manpower in science, technology, academics, industry etc. The finalization of NEP is likely to take some more time.
(b) and (c): Several schemes are being implemented by the Ministry so as to enhance access to public funded education across all levels ranging from elementary, secondary, higher and technical education. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with State Governments for universalizing elementary education across the country by providing universal access and retention, bridging of gender and social gaps in education and enhancing learning levels of children. Under SSA, a variety of interventions are included , such as, opening of new schools, construction of schools and additional classrooms, toilets and drinking water, provisioning for teachers, periodic teacher training and academic resource support, textbooks and support for learning achievement. These provisions are made in accordance with norms and standards and free entitlements as mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The BE for SSA in 2016-17 is Rs.22500 crore.
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme that envisages among other things, provision of a secondary school within a reasonable distance of any habitation and to enhance standards of secondary education by making all secondary schools conform to prescribed norms, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers etc. BE for RMSA in 2016-17 is Rs. 3700 crore.
The Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE) puts emphasis on monitoring of the process and outcome parameters in respect of each level of institution. Joint Review Mission (JRM) is an integral part of the comprehensive monitoring mechanism of Teachers’ Education scheme. The Ministry has also launched Prashikshak, a teacher education portal on 30.06.2016 for a strong monitoring mechanism, which would contain a database of all 588 DIETs in the country with all relevant information about the institutes including performance indicators. BE for CSSTE in 2016-17 is Rs. 480 crore.
During the Twelfth Five Year Plan, a new scheme namely, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) was launched with the aim to achieve equity, access and excellence in state higher education system. The scheme supports components such as upgrading autonomous colleges to universities, clustering colleges to establish a university, setting up of new professional colleges in un-served and underserved areas as well as providing infrastructure grants to universities and colleges to scale up capacity. The BE for RUSA in 2016-17 is Rs. 1300 crore. In higher education, several other schemes are also being implemented, such as, Global Initiative for Academics Network (GIAN), Impacting Research, Innovation & Technology (IMPRINT), Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP), Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT), Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), National Digital Library, campus connect programme, Uchhattar Avishkar Abhiyan, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan to ensure that our students are equipped to meet the needs of a globally competitive society and prepare them for the knowledge society essential to national development.