Question : Closure of Schools Due to COVID-19

(a) whether the Government proposes to call-off the special dispensation quota of the Hon’ble Education Minister or Members of Parliament for the admission to the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) for the academic year 2022-23 back as before;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) if not, whether the Government proposes to enhance the admission quota in KVs for the Hon’ble Members of Parliament; and
(d) whether the Government proposes to set up Kendriya Vidyalayas in the rural areas of Kanpur of Uttar Pradesh and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF EDUCATION

(SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the table of the House.



STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 63 FOR 07.02.2022 ASKED BY HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT SHRI DHARMENDRA KASHYAP REGARDING “CLOSURE OF SCHOOLS DUE TO COVID-19.”

(a) Due to the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, schools in States and Union Territories (UT) were closed as a precautionary measure to protect the students. This has interrupted the learning of students from pre- school to grade 12. During the pandemic, Ministry of Education has held several consultations with the States and UTs to assess the various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample survey was conducted in the month of July, 2020 for schools of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) by the Department. Subsequently, further surveys were conducted in early 2021 regarding availability of various forms of digital devices with children. NVS has reported 92.95% and KVS has more than 98% of students having full or partial access to some digital device. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) was held on November 12, 2021 across India to assess the learning outcomes of students and schools across grades 3,5,8 and 10.

(b) & (c) Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. The opening, closing and rationalization of schools are within the purview of State Governments and UT Administrations.

(d) After discussion with the States and UTs, a multi-pronged approach has been adopted leveraging technology to reach the students. A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiated which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes, the following components:
? DIKSHA the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs: and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform)
? One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel)
? Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani
? Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) website/ YouTube.

Further, Under Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, which is an overarching scheme for school education covering all levels from pre-primary to senior secondary, financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs including Uttar Pradesh for various activities for setting up of ICT labs and smart classrooms in schools and for online teacher training to ensure continuous professional development of teachers.

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