MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)
(a) to (d) The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has impacted school education. Schools in States
and Union Territories were closed as a precautionary measure to protect the students from Novel
COVID-19 (Corona) virus. This has interrupted the learning of students from pre- school to grade 12.
Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools, Colleges and
University are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. During COVID-19
Pandemic, Ministry of Education held continuous consultations with the States and UTs at various
levels 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 conducted on 12.11.2021 in 717 districts of the
country to assess learning levels of sampled children of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10.
Centrally Sponsored Scheme Samagra Shiksha has been aligned with the National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020 in order to ensure inclusive and equitable, quality and holistic school education.
The major interventions, across all levels of school education, proposed under the scheme are: (i)
Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Foundational Literacy and
Numeracy, (iii) Gender and Equity; (iv) Inclusive Education; (v) Quality and Innovation; (vi)
Financial support for Teacher Salary; (vii) Digital initiatives; (viii) RTE Entitlements including
uniforms, textbooks etc.; (ix) Support for ECCE; (x) Vocational Education; (xi) Sports and Physical
Education; (xii) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training;(xiii) Monitoring; (xiv)
Programme Management; and (xv) National Component. Samagra Shiksha also has a clear focus on
bridging and eliminating gender differences in enrolment, retention and quality of learning. Further,
to mitigate the effect of covid-19, Department of School Education and Literacy allocated a total of
Rs. 5784.05 crores under Samagra Shiksha during the year 2020-21,
A National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy called “National Initiative for
Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)” has been launched by
the Ministry of Education (MoE) on 5th July 2021 under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme
of Samagra Shiksha. The National Mission lays down priorities and actionable agendas for
States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child
by grade 3. Further, Bridge Course Modules have been developed for bridging the learning gaps of
Out of School Children studying in Special Training Centers (STC) under the provision of RTE Act,
2009.
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, where work is in progress:
? 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 NIOS website/ YouTube
Where the digital facility (mobile device/ DTH television) is not available, Ministry of Education
has taken many initiatives like Community Radio Stations and a podcast called Shiksha Vani of
CBSE, Textbooks, worksheet supplied to residence of learners, Handbook on 21st Century Skills
Handbook on 21st Century Skills and community/mohalla classes are being organized. Innovation
Funds of the Department used to set up mobile school, virtual studios, virtual class rooms in schools,
Continuous Learning Plan (CLP) for States/UTs has been initiated in all States/UTs, pre-loaded
tablets under Samagra Shiksha in various states and UTs are effectively used in remote/rural areas
where online classes are difficult. Further in order to provide continuous professional development
opportunities to the teachers at the elementary level, this Department launched the NISHTHA online
training programme using DIKSHA platform in October 2020. NISHTHA online for elementary
level covered 18 modules in 11 languages, including use of ICT in teaching-learning.
(e) to (g): Yes, as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, the
Department advised the States/UTs to conduct survey of children with access and without access to
digital devices. Accordingly, various initiatives were taken by the Ministry of Education, States and
Union Territories to mitigate the effect of the Covid pandemic on school education. A detailed report
on these initiatives may be seen at the website of Education Ministry at following link:
https://dsel.education.gov.in/sites/default/files/update/covid_initiatives.pdf
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