Steps for 100 Per Cent Literacy
Steps for 100 Per Cent Literacy
As per Census reports, there has been steady
improvement in literacy rates since independence as the literacy rate has
increased from 18.33 per cent in 1951 to 72.98 per cent in 2011. Government
keeps phase-wise targets to achieve higher levels of literacy. The present
target is to achieve 80 per cent literacy rate by the end of XII Five Year
Plan.
Two major interventions of Government of India, namely Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, for universalisation of elementary education and Saakshar Bharat, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the Adult population help to bring effective improvement in literacy. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is being implemented for universalisation of elementary education for all children in the 6-14 age group. Saakshar Bharat is being implemented in rural areas of 410 districts in 26 States and one Union Territory (UT) that had adult female literacy rate of 50 per cent or below as per Census 2001, and left wing extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates. The scheme has a target of making 70 million adult non-literates, including 60 million women as literates, with special thrust on disadvantaged groups.
The State Literacy Mission Authority (SLMA), Tamil Nadu has been felicitated with State level Saakshar Bharat Award 2015, as the best performing State in the field of literacy, on the occasion of the International Literacy Day on the 8th September, 2015.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
Two major interventions of Government of India, namely Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, for universalisation of elementary education and Saakshar Bharat, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the Adult population help to bring effective improvement in literacy. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is being implemented for universalisation of elementary education for all children in the 6-14 age group. Saakshar Bharat is being implemented in rural areas of 410 districts in 26 States and one Union Territory (UT) that had adult female literacy rate of 50 per cent or below as per Census 2001, and left wing extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates. The scheme has a target of making 70 million adult non-literates, including 60 million women as literates, with special thrust on disadvantaged groups.
The State Literacy Mission Authority (SLMA), Tamil Nadu has been felicitated with State level Saakshar Bharat Award 2015, as the best performing State in the field of literacy, on the occasion of the International Literacy Day on the 8th September, 2015.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
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National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship
An amount of Rs. 70.00 crore has been allocated in
BE 2015-16 for National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme.
The estimated number of beneficiaries under this scheme during 2015-16 is 205000.
96521 scholarships pertaining to previous academic years has been sanctioned under the scheme with an expenditure of Rs. 58.61 crore during current financial year. The scholarships for the academic year 2015-16 could not be sanctioned as the proposals for disbursement of scholarships for academic year 2015-16 have so far not been received from the State / UT Governments on-line on National e-Scholarship portal, made operational in October 2015.
A National e-Scholarship Portal for on-line submission of scholarship proposals/ beneficiaries’ lists by the States has been developed by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) under Prime Minister’s Digital India Initiative. The portal has been made operational for the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) in October, 2015. This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
The estimated number of beneficiaries under this scheme during 2015-16 is 205000.
96521 scholarships pertaining to previous academic years has been sanctioned under the scheme with an expenditure of Rs. 58.61 crore during current financial year. The scholarships for the academic year 2015-16 could not be sanctioned as the proposals for disbursement of scholarships for academic year 2015-16 have so far not been received from the State / UT Governments on-line on National e-Scholarship portal, made operational in October 2015.
A National e-Scholarship Portal for on-line submission of scholarship proposals/ beneficiaries’ lists by the States has been developed by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) under Prime Minister’s Digital India Initiative. The portal has been made operational for the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) in October, 2015. This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
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Significant Progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report,
2015 points out that India has witnessed significant progress towards meeting
the MDGs, with some targets having been met ahead of the 2015 deadline. It says
that India has made significant progress in universalizing primary education,
and is moderately on track to achieve this Millennium Development Goal.
Enrolment and completion rates of girls in primary school have improved and are
catching up with those of boys, as are elementary completion rates. It also addresses
the issue of large number of children remaining out of school and failing to
complete primary education, particularly in the case of girls, children in
rural areas and those belonging to minority communities.
The survey commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) through an independent agency in 2014 reported an overall decline in the number of out of school children in the age group of 6 to13 years in the country. While there were 134.59 lakh out of school children in 2006, it decreased to 81.50 lakh in 2009 and the number further reduced to 60.64 lakh children in 2014 in the same age group. The latest figure accounts for 2.97 percent of the total children in the said age group.
Census 2011 showed that about 32 million children aged between 6 to 13 years have never attended any educational institution, even though government estimates of out of school children show substantial lower number. This variance may be due to different criteria for identifying out of school children and the nature of data used for research study.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
The survey commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) through an independent agency in 2014 reported an overall decline in the number of out of school children in the age group of 6 to13 years in the country. While there were 134.59 lakh out of school children in 2006, it decreased to 81.50 lakh in 2009 and the number further reduced to 60.64 lakh children in 2014 in the same age group. The latest figure accounts for 2.97 percent of the total children in the said age group.
Census 2011 showed that about 32 million children aged between 6 to 13 years have never attended any educational institution, even though government estimates of out of school children show substantial lower number. This variance may be due to different criteria for identifying out of school children and the nature of data used for research study.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
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Steps for Nutritious Mid-Day-Meal
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation has engaged
Shriram Institute (SRI) / FICCI for testing of food samples to ensure the
quality of food supplied under Mid Day Meal Scheme. Out of 208 samples checked
by SRI / FICCI, 127 samples have been passed by the aforesaid institute. The
remaining 81 samples have not fulfilled the prescribed levels of protein /
calories.
In Delhi, the mid day meals are supplied in all 3077 schools through centralized kitchens run by NGOs and payment is made to the NGOs by the Government of NCT Delhi.
The Government of India has issued updated guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene on school level kitchens to all the States / UTs on 13th February, 2015. These guidelines, inter alia, provide for instructions to schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of mid day meals, tasting of meals by 2-3 adults members including at least one teacher before serving to children and to put in place a system of testing of food samples by accredited laboratories. Further, the MDM Rules 2015 provide for mandatory testing of food samples on a monthly basis by Government recognized laboratories to ensure that the meals meet with nutritional standards and quality. In addition, an expert committee has been constituted to analyse the adequacy of the present nutrient content of meal, suggest optimal nutrient mix meal and assess nutrient adequacy of varying menus.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
In Delhi, the mid day meals are supplied in all 3077 schools through centralized kitchens run by NGOs and payment is made to the NGOs by the Government of NCT Delhi.
The Government of India has issued updated guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene on school level kitchens to all the States / UTs on 13th February, 2015. These guidelines, inter alia, provide for instructions to schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of mid day meals, tasting of meals by 2-3 adults members including at least one teacher before serving to children and to put in place a system of testing of food samples by accredited laboratories. Further, the MDM Rules 2015 provide for mandatory testing of food samples on a monthly basis by Government recognized laboratories to ensure that the meals meet with nutritional standards and quality. In addition, an expert committee has been constituted to analyse the adequacy of the present nutrient content of meal, suggest optimal nutrient mix meal and assess nutrient adequacy of varying menus.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
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Funding Pattern of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
It has been decided that the funds sharing pattern
of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) will be in the ratio of 60:40 between Centre and
States (90:10 for the 8 North-Eastern States and 3 Himalayan States) with
effect from the year 2015-16. The revision has been done in view of the higher
devolution of funds to the States from 32% to 42% as recommended by the 14th
Finance Commission.
Some State Governments namely Bihar, Odisha, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal had raised their concern about interim reduction of the central share of funding in the SSA from 65 per cent to 50 per cent, which has subsequently been rationalized to 60 per cent based on the report of the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Rationalization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes constituted by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
Some State Governments namely Bihar, Odisha, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal had raised their concern about interim reduction of the central share of funding in the SSA from 65 per cent to 50 per cent, which has subsequently been rationalized to 60 per cent based on the report of the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Rationalization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes constituted by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
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Choice Based Credit System
Several Universities have adopted Choice Based
Credit System (CBCS) by following the laid down process of adoption by their
statutory bodies. Taking into account various issues and concerns regarding
CBCS, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has laid down detailed template
for adoption of CBCS. The template is at
http://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/4426331_Instructional-Template.pdf .
Shortage of teachers arises from a number of factors, primarily vacancies in faculty positions. The implementation of CBCS is not a causal factor, since the student-teacher ratio has not been altered under the CBCS. The Central Government has urged various State Governments to fill up the faculty positions at the earliest. The UGC has also directed the Central Universities to fill up the vacant faculty positions at the earliest.
The UGC has informed that no such incident came to the notice of UGC in case of Central Universities.
The UGC has further informed that none of the Central Universities have reported increase in working hours due to the introduction of the CBCS.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
Shortage of teachers arises from a number of factors, primarily vacancies in faculty positions. The implementation of CBCS is not a causal factor, since the student-teacher ratio has not been altered under the CBCS. The Central Government has urged various State Governments to fill up the faculty positions at the earliest. The UGC has also directed the Central Universities to fill up the vacant faculty positions at the earliest.
The UGC has informed that no such incident came to the notice of UGC in case of Central Universities.
The UGC has further informed that none of the Central Universities have reported increase in working hours due to the introduction of the CBCS.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
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Job Oriented Higher Education
The Government of India, has initiated extensive
consultations to bring out a National Education Policy to meet the changing
dynamics of the population’s requirement with regards to quality education,
innovation and research, aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by
equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge and to eliminate
the shortage of manpower in science, technology, academics and industry.
Further, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has started three schemes namely Community Colleges, B.Voc Degree Programme and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya KAUSHAL Kendras so as to enhance employability of students and make them industry-ready. The objectives of these schemes are the following, namely: (i) to make higher education relevant to learner and community; (ii) to integrate relevant skills in to higher education system; (iii) to provide skill based education to students currently pursuing higher education but actually interested in entering the workforce at the earliest opportunity; and (iv) to provide employable and certifiable skills with necessary general education.
The UGC is also implementing the scheme ‘Career Oriented Courses’ to impart knowledge, skills and aptitude for gainful employment in wage sector in general and self employment in particular to candidates taking these courses so as to reduce the pressure on institutions of higher learning for Master Degree. These courses run parallel to the conventional B.A., B.Com and B.Sc. degree. The courses offered are in the form of Certificate / Diploma / Advance Diploma which students may opt parallel to their convention B.A / B.Com/ B.Sc. degrees.
Assessment and accreditation of quality of University and Colleges in the country is undertaken by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Board for Accreditation (NBA). The details regarding quality assessment by these agencies are available at http://www.naac.gov.in and http://www.nbaind.org
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
Further, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has started three schemes namely Community Colleges, B.Voc Degree Programme and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya KAUSHAL Kendras so as to enhance employability of students and make them industry-ready. The objectives of these schemes are the following, namely: (i) to make higher education relevant to learner and community; (ii) to integrate relevant skills in to higher education system; (iii) to provide skill based education to students currently pursuing higher education but actually interested in entering the workforce at the earliest opportunity; and (iv) to provide employable and certifiable skills with necessary general education.
The UGC is also implementing the scheme ‘Career Oriented Courses’ to impart knowledge, skills and aptitude for gainful employment in wage sector in general and self employment in particular to candidates taking these courses so as to reduce the pressure on institutions of higher learning for Master Degree. These courses run parallel to the conventional B.A., B.Com and B.Sc. degree. The courses offered are in the form of Certificate / Diploma / Advance Diploma which students may opt parallel to their convention B.A / B.Com/ B.Sc. degrees.
Assessment and accreditation of quality of University and Colleges in the country is undertaken by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Board for Accreditation (NBA). The details regarding quality assessment by these agencies are available at http://www.naac.gov.in and http://www.nbaind.org
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
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