Cabinet extends ‘Samagra Shiksha Scheme’ for school education for another 5 years

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 4

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the continuation of the revised 'Samagra Shiksha Scheme' for school education for another five years.

Making the announcement Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the scheme would continue from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2026.

It will be called 'Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2'.

A financial outlay of Rs 2,94,283.04 crore, which includes a central share of Rs 1,85,398.32 crore has been made to implement the scheme.

The scheme will cover 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students, and 5.7 million teachers of government and aided schools. It moots access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment with a greater focus on imparting skills among the students, according to an official statement.

Provision of training of master trainers for Anganwadi workers, incinerator and sanitary pad vending machines in girls’ hostels, the addition of new subjects instead of stream in existing senior secondary schools, holistic progress card for each learner, an additional sports grant of up to Rs 25,000 to schools in case at least two students win a medal in Khelo India school games at the national level, are among the initiatives in the revised scheme.

“In order to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child-centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT-based platform over a period of time. The scheme will have an effective convergence architecture with various ministries and developmental agencies of the Centre and state governments,” the official statement said.

“The expansion of vocational education will be done in convergence with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and other ministries providing funding for skills. The existing infrastructure of schools and ITIs and polytechnics will be used to ensure optimum utilisation of the facilities, not only for school-going children but also for out-of-school children,” it added.

Provision of training of master trainers for the training of Anganwadi workers and in-service teacher training for ECCE teachers; provision of up to Rs 500 per child for Teaching Learning Materials (TLM); indigenous toys and games; play-based activities per annum for pre-primary sections in government schools; and strengthening of infrastructure of schools from pre-primary to senior secondary (earlier pre-primary was excluded) are among the various initiatives in the revised scheme.

“Specific training modules will be included under NISHTHA by NCERT to train Secondary teachers and Primary teachers. Transport facility has been extended to the secondary level at up to Rs 6,000 per annum. For out-of-school children at 16 to 19 years of age, support will be provided to SC, ST, disabled children, up to Rs 2,000 per child per grade to complete their secondary or senior secondary levels through NIOS/SOS,” the statement said.

“Financial support for State Commission for Protection of Child Rights at Rs 50 per elementary school in the state, for protection of child rights and safety; holistic, 360-degree, a multi-dimensional report showing progress and uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains will be introduced in the form of Holistic Progress Card (HPC),” it added.

Some other initiatives include:

*Provision for Bagless days, school complexes, internships with local artisans, curriculum, and pedagogical reforms, etc included

*Training for 3 months for inculcating self-defence skills under ‘Rani Laxmibai Atma Raksha Prashikshan’ and amount increased from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 per month

*Child tracking provision included for students of Government and Government aided schools

*Support for Social Audit covering 20% of schools per year so that all schools are covered in a period of five years

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