MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)
(a) to (c) : Improving the quality of education across all levels from primary to university level is a continuous and ongoing process. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976 brought about a fundamental change by transferring education from the State List to the Concurrent List giving equal responsibility to both the Central and State Governments to promote education. Recognizing the centrality of states both in policy formulation and effective implementation of education reforms, the Ministry of HRD has been regularly convening meetings of the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE), which is a composite body and is also the highest advisory body on education.
Poor quality of education resulting in unsatisfactory learning outcomes is a matter of grave concern. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 lays down the duties of the appropriate Government and the local authority to ensure that good quality elementary education conforming to norms and standards is provided, that curriculum and courses of study are prescribed in a timely manner, and that teachers are trained. In order to focus on quality education, the Central RTE Rules have been amended in February, 2017 to include reference on class-wise, subject-wise Learning Outcomes. The Learning Outcomes for each class in Languages (Hindi, English and Urdu), Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science up to the elementary stage have been finalized and shared with all States and UTs. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Sarva Shiskha Abhiyan (SSA), the State & UT Governments are supported on several interventions to improve teaching standards, including regular in-service teachers’ training, induction training for newly recruited teachers, training of all untrained teachers to acquire professional qualifications through Open Distance Learning (ODL) mode, recruitment of additional teachers for improving pupil-teacher ratios, academic support for teachers through block and cluster resource centres, continuous and comprehensive evaluation system to equip teachers to measure pupil performance and provide remedial action wherever required, grants for development of appropriate teaching-learning materials, etc. The Central Government supports States and UTs on early grade reading, writing & comprehension, and early Mathematics programmes through a sub-programme of SSA namely ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (PBBB) in classes I and II. Further, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), ICT in Schools, Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE), Shaala Siddhi, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan are being implemented to improve the quality of secondary education. In higher education also, various schemes, namely, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), 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, Uchhatar Avishkar Abhiyan, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan are being implemented to improve the quality of higher education. A number of initiatives are also undertaken by UGC and AICTE for quality improvement in higher and technical education.
(d) and (e): The Government has recently approved a scheme titled “Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)” to usher in digital literacy in rural India by covering 6 crore rural households by 31.03.2019. The Government has implemented two Schemes for providing Digital Literacy to the masses viz. Scheme for IT Mass Literacy renamed as National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) and Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA) with a cumulative target of 52.5 lakh persons across the country. Under these two Schemes, around 53.46 lakh beneficiaries have been trained and certified.
**********
Download PDF Files
