The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the continuation of the revised Samagra Shiksha Scheme for School Education for a period of five years from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2026.
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).
Addressing the press briefing here, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "The Centre will be investing at least Rs 3,00,000 crore in the education infrastructure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focusing on four points in education-- equality, quality, accessibility, and affordability."
"Sustainability Development goals for education have been kept in mind. Universal education which was a part of the National Education Policy is a part of the scheme as well," he stated.
"Government schools will have playschools as well and teachers will be trained accordingly," he said.
"Emphasis will be placed on vocational learning. Classes 6-8 will receive their exposure and focus on skills will be placed on classes 9-12. Talks are held to formalize coding, augmented and virtual reality, etc. along with more modern skills in schools," he said.
The Education Minister also mentioned that transportation facilities will be provided to the students who cannot afford them under Samagra Shiksha 2.0 and it has been extended to 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 2000 per child per grade to complete their secondary/senior secondary levels through National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)," he said.
Recognising the crucial role of Foundational skills in the national development, it was announced under the 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat' campaign that a National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 2026-27.
In this context, the "National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)" has been launched on 5th July 2021 under Samagra Shiksha.
( With inputs from ANI )
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