MINISTER OF EDUCATION
(SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (C) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 309 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20TH DECEMBER, 2021 ASKED BY HON’BLE MP SHRI RAVIKUMAR D. REGARDING ENROLMENT IN SCHOOLS
(a) to (c): The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) surveys are conducted by a non-governmental organization.
Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, 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, setting up, up-gradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, setting up and running of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, provision of free uniforms, free text books to the eligible students at elementary level, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment & retention drives. Further, special training for age appropriate admission of out of school children and residential as well as non-residential training for older children, seasonal hostels / residential camps, special training centres at worksites, are also supported to bring out of school children to the formal schooling system. Further, under the student oriented component for the children with special needs, financial assistance is provided for identification and assessment of children with special needs, aids and appliances, braille kits and books, appropriate teaching learning material and stipend to girl students with disability etc. Also, under ‘Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman’ (PM POSHAN) one hot cooked meal in Government and Government aided schools is provided to students at the elementary level of education.
Education is in the Concurrent list of Constitution and most of the schools come under jurisdiction of concerned States and UTs. State and UT Governments are the appropriate Governments under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The RTE norms provide for an all-weather building in elementary schools consisting of at least one classroom for every teacher and an office-cum-store-cum-Head teacher’s room, barrier free access, separate toilets for boys and girls, safe and adequate drinking water facility to all children and playground.
As per Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20, State/UT-wise details of all Elementary schools/sections in the country that are RTE compliant in terms of meeting the norms are at Annexure.
The RTE Act, 2009 in its Schedule lays down Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) for both Primary and Upper Primary schools. At Primary level, the PTR norm is maximum of 30:1 for enrolment upto 200 and maximum 40:1 thereafter and at upper primary level it is 35:1. As per the Unified District Information System for Education+ 2019-20, the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) for Primary is 27:1 and for Upper Primary is 19:1, which is better than the prescribed norms.
The recruitment, service conditions and deployment of teachers are primarily in the domain of the respective State and UT Government. The recruitment of teachers in schools is a continuous process and the vacancies keep arising due to retirement, resignation and additional requirements on account of enhanced students’ strength/new schools. However, Ministry of Education requests the States and UT Governments for filling-up the vacant posts of teachers and their rational deployment, through Review meetings and advisories from time to time. Further, the Central Government through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, provides assistance to the States and UTs for deployment of additional teachers to maintain appropriate Pupil Teacher Ratio as per the prescribed norms for various levels of schooling.
Under the scheme, the annual plans are prepared by the States and UTs based on their requirements and priority and this is reflected in their respective Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) Proposals. These plans are then appraised and approved/estimated by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in the Department of School Education & Literacy in consultation with the States and UTs as per the programmatic and financial norms of the scheme and physical and financial progress of the State for the interventions approved earlier. Further, the funds are released on the basis of submission of Audited Accounts, Utilization Certificate, physical and financial progress and other documents as prescribed under the Financial Management & Procurement (FMP) Manual of Samagra Shiksha.
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