The Union Cabinet today, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved a new centrally sponsored scheme - PM SHRI Schools (PM ScHools for Rising India). This will be a new scheme for development of more than 14500 schools across the country as PM SHRI Schools by strengthening select existing schools being managed by Central Government/ State/ UT Government/ local bodies. PM SHRI Schools will showcase all components of the National Education Policy 2020, act as exemplar schools and also offer mentorship to other schools in their vicinity. The PM SHRI schools will deliver quality teaching for the cognitive development of students and will strive to create and nurture holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with key 21^st century skills.

Scheme of PM SHRI  schools (PM ScHools for Rising India) is to be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a total project cost of Rs. 27360 crore which includes a central share of Rs. 18128 crore for the period of five years from year 2022-23 to 2026-27.

Key features

•  PM SHRI will provide high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school environment that takes care of the diverse background, multilingual needs, and different academic abilities of children and makes them active participants in their own learning process as per the vision of NEP 2020.
• PM SHRI Schools will provide leadership to other schools in their respective regions by providing mentorship.
• The PM SHRI  Schools will be developed as Green schools, incorporating environment friendly aspects like solar panels and LED lights, nutrition gardens with natural farming, waste management, plastic free, water conservation and harvesting, study of traditions/practices related to protection of environment, climate change related hackathon and awareness generation to adopt sustainable lifestyle.
• Pedagogy adopted in these schools will be more experiential, holistic, integrated, play/toy-based (particularly, in the foundational years) inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible and enjoyable.
• Focus will be on learning outcomes of every child in every grade. Assessment at all levels will be based on conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to real life situations and will be competency-based.
• Assessment of the resources available and their effectiveness in terms of availability, adequacy, appropriateness, and utilisation for each of the domains and their key performance indicators will be done and gaps will be filled in a systematic and planned manner.
• Linkage with Sector Skill Councils and local industry for enhancing employability and providing better employment opportunities will be explored.
• A School Quality Assessment Framework (SQAF) is being developed, specifying the key performance indicators to measure outcomes. Quality evaluation of these schools at regular interval will be undertaken to ensure the desired standards.

Major illustrative interventions of Scheme of PM SHRI Schools (PM Schools for Rising India) are:

1. Quality and Innovation (Learning Enhancement Programme, Holistic Progress Card, Innovative Pedagogies, Bagless days, Internships with Local artisans, Capacity building etc.)
2. Beneficiary oriented entitlements under RTE Act. 100% of PM SHRI Schools will receive Science and Math Kits.
3. Annual School Grants (Composite School grants, Library grant, Sports grant)
4. Early Childhood Care and Education including Balvatika and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
5. Equity and Inclusion including provision of safe and appropriate infrastructure for girls and CWSN.
6. Encouraging flexibility in choice of subjects offered to students.
7. Encouraging mother tongue/local languages as medium of instruction using technological interventions to help bridge language barriers.
8. ICT, smart classrooms and digital libraries for using digital pedagogy. 100% of the PM SHRI Schools will be covered under ICT, smart classrooms and digital initiatives.
1. Strengthening of existing infrastructure
10. Vocational interventions & Enhancing internship / entrepreneurship opportunities especially with local industry. Mapping of skills with developmental projects/nearby industry and develop courses/curriculum accordingly.
11. Saturation approach will be adopted to develop these schools with all modern facilities. Science labs, Library, ICT facility and Vocational labs etc. will be provided to all the schools.
50. Green School initiatives

Further, the scheme envisages convergence with existing schemes /Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Urban Local bodies and community participation for infrastructure upgradation of the school and creation of facilities.

Implementation strategy

(a.)  PM SHRI Schools would be implemented through the existing administrative structure available for Samagra Shiksha, KVS & NVS. The other autonomous bodies would be involved on specific project basis as required.

(b.) These schools shall be monitored vigorously to assess progress and understand the challenges faced in implementation of National Education Policy 2020.

Selection Methodology:

Selection of PM SHRI schools will be done through Challenge Mode wherein Schools compete for support to become exemplar schools. Schools would be required to self-apply on the online portal. The portal will be opened four times a year, once every quarter, for first two years of the scheme.

The Elementary schools (Class 1-5/1-8) & the Secondary/ Sr. Secondary Schools (Class1-10/1-12/6-10/6-12) managed by Centre/State/UT Governments / local self-governments having UDISE+ code would be considered for selection under the Scheme.  Selection would be done through a three-stage process with definite time lines, which is as follows: -

1. Stage-1: States/UTs would sign MoU agreeing to implement NEP in entirety with Centre laying down the commitments for supporting these schools for achieving specified quality assurance as PM SHRI schools.

2. Stage-2: In this stage, a pool of schools that are eligible to be selected as PM SHRI Schools would be identified based on prescribed minimum benchmark through UDISE+ data.

3. Stage-3: This stage is based on the challenge method for fulfilling certain criteria. Only the schools from the above eligible pool of schools would compete to fulfill the challenge conditions. Fulfillment of conditions would be certified by States/KVS/JNV through physical inspection.

States/UTs/KVS/JNV shall verify the claims reported by Schools and recommend the list of schools to the Ministry.

Maximum two schools (one Elementary & one Secondary/Senior Secondary) would be selected per block/ULB with upper limit of number of total schools across India.Geo-tagging of schools for the selection and monitoring of PM SHRI schools will be done. The services of Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) will be taken for geo-tagging and other related tasks. An Expert committee would be constituted for final selection of schools.

Quality Assurance of PM SHRI Schools

1. Showcase of NEP 2020
2. Student registry  for tracking enrolment and learning progress
3. Improvement in learning outcomes of each child to achieve levels above state and national average
4. Every middle grade child exposed/oriented to cutting edge and 21st century skills
5. Every secondary grade child passes out with at least one skill
6. Sports, Arts, ICT for every child
7. Sustainable and Green schools
8. Each school linked/connected to Higher Education Institutions for mentoring
9. Every school linked/connected to local entrepreneurial ecosystem
10. Every child counselled for psychological well-being and career
11. Students will be rooted to knowledge and heritage of India, proud of civilizational ethos and values of Bharat, aware of India's contribution to the world, conscious of duties towards society, living beings and the nature, communicatively competent in Indian languages, respecting inclusivity, equality and unity in diversity, sense of service and furthering the spirit of  'Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat'.
12. Character-building, citizenship values, fundamental duties and responsibilities towards nation-building

These schools will be developed as vibrant schools focusing on all round development of children.

Beneficiaries

More than 18 lakh students are expected to be direct beneficiaries of the scheme. Futher impact will be generated through the mentoring and handholding of the schools in vicinity of PM SHRI schools.

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DS