About Samagra Shiksha Scheme
- Samagra Shiksha Scheme is an integrated scheme for school education covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII.
- It aims to deliver inclusive, equitable, and affordable school education.
- It subsumes the three Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and Teacher Education (TE).
- 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).
- It is being implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme. It involves a 60:40 split in funding between the Centre and most States. It was launched by the Ministry of Education in 2018.
About Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):
- To enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child-centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT-based platform over a while.
- This DBT would include RTE (Right to Education) entitlements such as textbooks, uniforms, and transport allowance.
On NEP Recommendations:
Encouraging Indian languages:
It has a new component for appointment of language teachers, which includes salaries, and training costs as well as bilingual books and teaching learning material as recommended in NEP.
Pre-primary Education:
- It will now include funding to support pre-primary sections at government schools, i.e. for teaching and learning materials, indigenous toys and games, and play-based activities.
- Master trainers for pre-primary teachers and Anganwadi workers will be supported under the scheme.
NIPUN Bharat Initiative:
Under this initiative, an annual provision of Rs. 500 per child for learning materials, Rs. 150 per teacher for manuals and resources, and Rs. 10-20 lakh per district will be given for assessment for foundational literacy and numeracy.
On Digital Initiatives:
There is a provision for ICT labs and smart classrooms, including support for digital boards, virtual classrooms and DTH channels
For out-of-school children:
- It includes a provision to support out-of-school children from age 16 to 19 with funding of Rs. 2000 per grade to complete their education via open schooling.
- There will also be a greater focus on skills and vocational education, both for students in school and dropouts.
Other Features
- Financial support for State Commission for Protection of Child Rights @ Rs 50 per elementary school in the state, for protection of child rights and safety.
- Holistic, 360-degree, multi-dimensional reports showing the progress/uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains will be introduced in the form of a Holistic Progress Card (HPC).
- Support for activities of PARAKH, a national assessment center (Performance, Assessments, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development)
- Additional Sports grants of up to Rs. 25000 to schools in case at least 2 students of that school win a medal in Khelo India school games at the National level.
- Provision for Bagless days, school complexes, internships with local artisans, curriculum and pedagogical reforms, etc.
- Support for Social Audit covering 20% of schools per year so that all schools are covered in a period of Five years.
