(a) whether the Government is considering to initiate a pilot project in coordination with the State Governments to recall the retired teachers/ex-servicemen to utilise their services as voluntary teachers and if so, the details thereof along with the guidelines issued in this regard;
(b) if so, the details and objectives thereof;
(c) whether the Government has worked out the modalities of the scheme and if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the States identified for the said project?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) to (d): The Central Government is working on a pilot programme ‘Vidyanjali’ to involve people from Indian Diaspora, retired teachers, retired government officials including retired defence personnel, retired professionals and women who are home makers to volunteer to strengthen co-scholastic activities in schools. These volunteers will not be a replacement for regular teachers and will not be involved in any kind of formal teaching. In a meeting of State Education Ministers held on 08.02.2016 in New Delhi, representatives of 19 States, namely, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have expressed their willingness to participate in the first phase.
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