Programs in News: Samgra Siksha 2.0

Programs in News: Cabinet approves continuation of Samagra Shiksha Scheme for School Education from 1st April, 2021 to 31st March, 2026.

Programs and Policies are importance part of Economics and Social Issue, Agriculture and Rural Development section of RBI Grade B and NABARD Grade A Exam respectively. Covering Government schemes directly from source is very much needed but not easy to do, through this article we are solving this problem for you. Read our Programs and Policies related articles on regular basis to gain knowledge about these schemes for RBI Grade B, NABARD Grade A Exam and even for UPSC Civil Service exams.

Cabinet approves continuation of Samagra Shiksha Scheme for School Education from 1st April, 2021 to 31st March, 2026.

Benefits:

It subsumes the three Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).
The scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Govt. and Aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level).
It is being implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme. It involves a 60:40 split in funding between the Centre and most States. It was launched by the Ministry of Education in 2018.

Funding:

Financial outlay of Rs.2,94,283.04 crore which includes Central share of Rs.1,85,398.32 crore

Details:

The Samagra Shiksha scheme is an integrated scheme for school education covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII.
The scheme treats school education as a continuum and is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4).
The scheme not only provides support for the implementation of the RTE Act but has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

The major interventions, across all levels of school education, proposed under the scheme are:

Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention;
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy,
Gender and Equity;
Inclusive Education;
Quality and Innovation;
Financial support for Teacher Salary;
Digital initiatives;
RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks etc.;
Support for ECCE;
Vocational Education;
Sports and Physical Education;
Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training;
Monitoring;
Programme Management; and
National Component.

On NEP Recommendations:

Encouraging Indian languages:

It has a new component for appointment of language teachers, which includes salaries, and training costs as well as bilingual books and teaching learning material as recommended in NEP.

Pre-primary Education:

It will now include funding to support pre-primary sections at government schools, i.e. for teaching and learning materials, indigenous toys and games and play-based activities.
Master trainers for pre-primary teachers and anganwadi workers will be supported under the scheme.

NIPUN Bharat Initiative:

Under this initiative, an annual provision of Rs. 500 per child for learning materials, Rs. 150 per teacher for manuals and resources and Rs. 10-20 lakh per district will be given for assessment for foundational literacy and numeracy.

On Digital Initiatives:

There is a provision for ICT labs and smart classrooms, including support for digital boards, virtual classrooms and DTH channels which have become more important in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For out-of-school children:

It includes a provision to support out of school children from age 16 to 19 with funding of Rs. 2000 per grade to complete their education via open schooling.
There will also be a greater focus on skills and vocational education, both for students in school and dropouts.

Other Features:

Financial support for State Commission for Protection of Child Rights @ Rs 50 per elementary school in the state, for protection of child rights and safety.
Holistic, 360-degree, multi-dimensional reports showing progress/uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains will be introduced in the form of Holistic Progress Card (HPC).
Support for activities of PARAKH, a national assessment centre (Performance, Assessments, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development)
Additional Sports grant of upto Rs. 25000 to schools in case at least 2 students of that school win a medal in Khelo India school games at the National level.
Provision for Bagless days, school complexes, internships with local artisans, curriculum and pedagogical reforms etc included.
Support for Social Audit covering 20% of schools per year so that all schools are covered in a period of Five years.
Transport facility has been extended to secondary level @ upto Rs 6000 per annum.
Specific training modules under NISHTHA by NCERT to train Secondary teachers and Primary teachers.

AtmaNirbhar Bharat:

Recognizing the crucial role of Foundational skills in the national development, it was announced under the 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat' campaign that a National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 2026-27. In this context, "National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)" has been launched on 5th July 2021 under Samagra Shiksha.