In news- The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme for school education till March 31, 2026.
Key updates-
- Samagra Shiksha scheme 2.0 seeks to cover 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million teachers of government and aided schools from pre-primary to senior secondary level.
- The Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0 aims to universalize access to school education, to promote equity through the inclusion of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections, and to improve the quality of education across all levels of school education.
- The expansion of vocational education will be done in convergence with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and other Ministries providing funding for Skills.
- The existing infrastructure of schools and ITIs and Polytechnics will be used to ensure optimum utilization of the facilities, not only for school going children but also for out of school children.
About the scheme-
- Samagra Shiksha is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12, prepared with the broader goal of improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes.
- It was introduced in the Union budget 2018-19.
- It subsumes the three erstwhile Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).
- The main emphasis of the Scheme is on improving quality of school education by focussing on the two T’s – Teacher and Technology.
The major objectives of the Scheme are-
- Provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students;
- Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education;
- Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education;
- Ensuring minimum standards in schooling provisions;
- Promoting Vocationalisation of education;
- Support States in implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009; and
- Strengthening and up-gradation of SCERTs/State Institutes of Education and DIET as nodal agencies for teacher training.
- It is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4) and has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020.
- The fund sharing pattern for the scheme between Centre and States is at present in the ratio of 90:10 for the 8 North-Eastern States and Himalayan states and 60:40 for all other States and Union Territories with Legislature and 100% centrally sponsored for other UTs.
Source: PIB
