The National Education Policy (NEP), launched in 2020 is a policy document that not only encompasses the SDG Goals on education but also prepares the youth of India to take on the challenges and opportunities emerging from a knowledge-driven economy of the 21st century, says the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament today by the Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Survey states that the school education system in India, with public and private schools, caters to around 26 crore students from various socio-economic backgrounds and the NEP 2020 seeks to provide all learners in the age group of 3-18 years with access to high-quality education to create an educational system that is rooted in Indian culture and has the potential to establish India as a global knowledge superpower.

‘Poshan bhi Padhai bhi’

The Survey mentions that in alignment with the guidelines of the National Education Policy 2020, ‘Poshan bhi Padhai bhi’ (PBPB) was launched in May 2023. It is a path-breaking Early Chilhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme to help India develop the world’s largest, universal, high-quality preschool network at Anganwadi Centres.

The Survey highlighted that for the first time, early stimulation for 0-3 years is being covered by a Government programme. Through the programme, every child would be provided with at least two hours of high quality preschool instruction daily. All States will follow the national ECCE task force recommendations for a play-based, activity-based learning pedagogy explicitly targeted at developmental milestones of 0-3-year-olds and 3-6-year-olds, including special support for Divyang children, the Survey adds.

Strengthening the country-wide-web of Anganwadis

The Survey stresses that considering global evidence that 85 per cent of brain development is achieved by the age of 6 years, the Anganwadi eco-system becomes a critical access point for building our children’s base to secure their future. In order to realise PBPB through Anganwadis, the latter will have to be strengthened with high-quality infrastructure, play equipment, and well-trained Anganwadi workers/teachers. In this regard, all Anganwadi Workers are to be trained on ECCE principles, including using activities, play and indigenous and DIY toys, through 40,000 Master Trainers. It also states that as of January 2024, 3735 State Level Master Trainers have been trained through 95 training programmes, covering 25 States and 182 Districts.

Some major schemes/initiatives of the Government in school education that are driving the NEP 2020 goals and policies into action and their progress:

1. Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

· NISHTHA, an integrated teacher training programme extended to cover teachers at all levels. 1,26,208 master trainers certified in NISHTHA ECCE.

· All 613 functional District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), the district level institutions guiding school education and teacher education to be upgraded into DIETs of Excellence in the next five years. In this first cycle of upgradation (FY24), an amount of ₹ 92,320.18 lakh has been approved i.r.o. 125 DIETs across the country.

· Vidya Pravesh, which is a 3-month play-based ‘school preparation module’ for all Grade-I Students with and without preschool education has been implemented by 36 States/UTs.  1.13 crore students from 8.46 lakh schools have been covered in 2023-24.

· 7.07 lakh girls’ students are currently enrolled in 5116 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) nationwide.

· Under Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs (CwSN), 18.50 lakh children with special needs are covered from pre-primary to class XII.  

2. Under National Assesment Centre- PARAKH, the policy recommendations for equivalence across school boards are being drafted after stakeholder discussion.
3. Under DIKSHA initiative, the free mobile application and web portal for learners, teachers, parents, etc. was launched in 36 Indian and foreign languages. 3.53 lakhs e-contents are made available to 1.71 crore registered users under DIKSHA. 
4. Under PM-SHRI , the 3 phases of school selection were completed in which 10,858 schools were selected from 32 States/ UTs/KVS/NVS. Rs. 5942.21 crore have been approved for 10,080 PMSHRI, Schools in FY25.
5. The PM POSHAN scheme provides one hot cooked meal for students of class I-VIII in Government and Government-aided schools. The scheme benefitted 11.63 crore children in 10.67 lakh schools in FY24 (till Dec 2023).
6. National Means cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme provides scholarships to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to arrest their drop-outs. In the year 2023-24, a total of ₹ 300.10 crore was sanctioned to 2,50,089 students.

Vidyanjali: A school volunteer programme

The Vidyanjali initiative has played a crucial role in enhancing the educational experiences of over 1.44 crore students by facilitating comprehensive community engagement and leveraging volunteer contributions across various domains, including subject assistance and mentoring and the provision of modern electronics and digital devices.

Progress in School Infrastructure

Reporting on the basic facilities in all schools the Survey notes that there are 97% girls toilets in 2022-23 as compared to 88.1% in 2012-13. The boys toilets have increased to 95.6 % in 2022-23 as compared to 67.2 % in 2012-13.The hand washing facilities have also increased from 36.3 % in 2012-13 to 94.1% in 2022-23. The schools with electricity have also increased from 54.6 % in 2012-13 to 91.7% in 2022-23. The Internet penetration in all schools has significantly increased from 6.2 % in 2012-13 to 49.7 % in 2022-23 and the computers have increased from 22.2 % in 2012-13 to 47.7 % in 2022-23.

Vocational Education

In terms of progress achieved, 29,342 Schools have been covered under skill education from FY19 to FY24 (till March 2024) and 22 sectors with 88 job roles were covered under Skill education till FY24.

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NB/MV/AK