(a) whether the Government has any target to set up one senior secondary school separated
by a distance of 3 to 5 kilometre across the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has conducted any survey or obtained any information in this
regard;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether the Government has allocated any fund to the States to provide scholarship in
the Government schools of the rural areas; and
(f) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)
(a) & (b) The framework of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Madhyamik
Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) envisages universalizing access to secondary schools by providing a
secondary school within a reasonable distance (5 kilometer) of every habitation and a higher
secondary schools within a reasonable distance (7-10 kilometers). When the Scheme was
launched in 2009-10, it was decided to implement it in a phased manner, the first phase was
designed to make good quality secondary education available to young persons in the age group
of 14-15 years. However, higher secondary schools are covered under the other components of
integrated RMSA, i.e., Information and Communication Technology in Schools, Girls Hostels,
Vocational Education and Inclusive Education of the Disabled at Secondary Stage.
(c) & (d) To ensure universal access to schools within a reasonable distance of any
habitation and without any discrimination, the Geographic coordinates of all schools along with
the school information available in UDISE are uploaded on the school GIS Web enabled
platform.
(e) & (f) The Centrally Sponsored ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme
awards scholarship to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop
out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage. One lakh
scholarships of Rs. 6000/- per annum (Rs. 500/- per month) per student are awarded to selected
students of class IX every year and their continuation/renewal in classes X to XII for study in a
State Government, Government-aided and Local body school under the scheme. An amount of
Rs. 217.39 crore has been sanctioned to 361029 scholarship during 2017-18.
The Centrally Sponsored ‘National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education
(NSIGSE)’ aims to establish an enabling environment to reduce the drop-outs and to promote the
enrolment of girl children, mainly belonging to SC/ST communities, in secondary schools.
According to the scheme, a sum of Rs. 3,000/- is deposited in the name of eligible unmarried
girls in a bank as fixed deposit on enrolment in class IX, who are entitled to withdraw it along
with interest thereon on passing Class X and attaining 18 years of age. The Scheme covers (i) all
girls belonging to SC/ST communities who pass class VIII and (ii) all girls who pass VIII
examination from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (irrespective of whether they belong to
SC/ST) and enrol in class IX in a State Government, Government aided and Local Body school.
An amount of Rs. 219.70 crore has been sanctioned to 732349 girls as incentive during 2017-18.
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