Samagra Shiksha Scheme for School Education to be continued from 2021 to 2026

Published: 9th Aug, 2021

Context

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of the revised Samagra Shiksha Scheme for a period of five years i.e., from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

About

About the scheme

The Samagra Shiksha scheme is an integrated scheme for school education which covers education from pre-school to class XII.
Launched by: Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
Launched in 2018, it subsumed the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and Teacher Education (TE).
The scheme treats school education by Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4).
The scheme supports the implementation of the RTE Act and is aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020.
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).

Implementation of the Scheme

State level: It is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through a single State Implementation Society (SIS) at the State level.
National level: At the National level, there is a Governing Council/Body headed by the Minister of Education and a Project Approval Board (PAB) headed by the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy.
The scheme ensures that all children have access to quality education.

Major interventions under the scheme

Major Interventions: The major interventions 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
Program Management
National Component

Literacy in India

According to the 2011 Census, any person aged seven and above and who has the ability to read and write is considered literate.
The average literacy rate in India stands at 74.04%.
While Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India at 93.91%, Bihar has the least literacy rate in India of 63.82%.
The Ministry Of Home Affairs conducts a census every 10 years in India.
The Mid Day Meal Scheme, SamagraShikshaProgramme, Awareness campaigns and RTE Act are some of the measures of Indian Government to improve education.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC IAS

Samagra Shiksha Scheme for School Education to be continued from 2021 to 2026