6. Key Initiatives in Education

• In pursuance of the Government’s vision for ‘Transforming India’, MHRD took a leap forward in transforming the education sector.
• Department of Higher Education of the Ministry has released a five-year vision plan named Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusive Programme (EQUIP).
• SWAYAM 2.0, Deeksharambh and PARAMARSH are some of the major schemes of this department.

Major reforms taken to reform education sector in India:

• NISHTHA: A National Mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level through an Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA – National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement was launched.
• It aims to build the capacities of around 42 lakh teachers and heads of school, faculty members of SERCTs and DIETs, Block Resource Coordinators e.t.c
• DHRUV: The Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Program (DHRUV) was launched to identify and encourage talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge.
• The programme Dhurv will act as a platform to explore the talent of outshining and meritorious students, and help them achieve excellence in their specific area of interest such as science, performing arts, creative writing e.t.c.
• Shagun: One of World’s largest Integrated Online Junction for – School Education ‘Shagun’ is an over-arching initiative to improve school education system by creating a junction for all online portals and websites relating to various activities of the Department of School Education and Literacy.
• Report cards of 15 lakh schools all over the country will be available on the newly created junction.
• Common people can directly give their feedback about schools which will further increase the public participation and will ensure accountability and transparency.
• Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+): To ensure quality, credibility and timely availability of information from all the schools in the country, the revamped UDISE+ has been launched.  The GIS based mapping portals give information about location of more than 15 lakh schools in the country along with some silent highlights.
• The Data Analytics portal gives information about the aggregate position of the school.
• Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) 2.0: DIKSHA portal was launched in 2017 for providing digital platform to teachers giving them an opportunity to learn and train themselves and connect with teacher community.
• This programme has tried to improve the content for the teachers concerned and more than 67000 of content pieces have been hosted on DIKSHA and more than 10.5 crore scams.
• Operation Digital Board (ODB): The aim is to provide by March 2023, two smart classrooms for every Secondary/Senior Secondary schools in 101967 Government and 42917 aided schools in all states and UTs in allStates/UTs and 1704 KVs and NVs making a total of 1,46,588 schools.

Other key Reforms in Higher Education

• Five-year vision plan ‘Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme’ (EQUIP)
• EQUIP is a vision plan aiming at ushering transformation in India’s higher education system by implementing strategic interventions in the sector over five years (2019-24).
• Institution of Eminence (IoE) : Ten institutions in public sector and 10 institutions in private sector have to be declared as IoE. Each IoE will be eligible to receive Rs. 1000 crore during next 5 years. 
• SWAYAM 2.0 : It is initiated with enhanced features and facilities to offer online degree programmes through SWAYAM by top ranking universities. 
• SWAYAM PRABHA – DTH Educational Channels:It is a project to telecast high-quality educational programs through 32 DTH channels on 24/7 basis to reach out to students/learners of India with wide reach and minimal cost.
• It also aims to provide dedicated channels ‘IITPAL’ to assist the students of XI and XII standards aspiring to join premier educational institutions in the country.

Implementation of Quality Improvement Programme  

• Deeksharambh: A guide to Student Induction Programme has been launched. Total 319 HEIs have implemented the Student Induction Programme.
• Learning outcomes based curriculum framework (LOCF) revision: New Curriculum in 16 subjects which is based on LOCF has been uploaded on UGC website to facilitate universities to revise the curriculum.
• Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE) – Launched for promoting quality research by faculty and creation of new knowledge.

PARAMARSH – A scheme to mentor institutions seeking National Assessment and Accreditation Council accreditation.