School Innovation Ambassador Training Program

Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Arjun Munda jointly launched the ‘School Innovation Ambassador Training Program’ for 50,000 school teachers today. MoS, Smt Annpurna Devi; MoS Shri Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and MoS Dr Subhas Sarkar were also present along with senior officials of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Pradhan said that teachers are the biggest influence in our lives. He said that we aim to make our teachers, change-agents and ambassadors of innovation to make our students future-ready.

Shri Pradhan stressed that technology is reshaping the world and our students have the potential to not only address domestic but also the global challenges. The program launched today is a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, CBSE and AICTE, which will in turn nurture lakhs of students with innovation capabilities, develop a culture of innovation and lay the foundation of a new and vibrant India, he added.

The Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda expressed his gratitude that the Ministry of Education has launched its new initiative in the field of innovation in collaboration with Tribal Affairs Ministry which will benefit the large number of schools for tribal children across the country. This programme will have far reaching consequences which will help to fulfil the Prime Minister’s vision of a New Indiathe Minister elaborated.

Sh Arjun Munda further said that ‘SIATP’ will give wings to the creativity of the children and provide a platform so that they can give something new to the world with their ideas. Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) for tribal children is another ambitious programme of the Prime Minister under which 740 EMRS will be established in tribal dominated areas over the next three years, he said. The students of EMRS will greatly benefit from SIATP since it is also the endeavour of Tribal Affairs Ministry to give the best possible education to the tribal children. Sh Arjun Munda explained that through this unique capacity building programme for teachers, prominence has been given to development of creativity, collaboration , critical thinking and communication skills among children and the integration of Eklavya Schools into the entire programme is a big step in this direction for the meaningful development of tribal children.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Tribal Affairs, Shri Anil Kumar Jha said that encouraging innovation is at the core of the New Education Policy. Teachers will need to evolve new methods of teaching; they will need to first transform themselves into guides from being instruments of written text books. Shri Jha further said that apart from running Ekalavya World Education School, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been supporting initiatives of States/Union Territories in spreading scientific education to tribal students and the new initiative will help promote quality education among tribal children. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched an Adi-Prashikshan portal which is also a repository of training inputs. It will be of great benefit if SIAP training module also gets connected to this portal, he said.

The innovative and one-of-its-kind training program for school teachers, it aims at training 50,000 School Teachers on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, IPR, Design Thinking, Product development, Idea generation, among others.

The program has been designed by the Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education and AICTE for school Teachers based on its “Innovation Ambassador Training Program for Higher Educational Institution’s faculty members”. The training will be delivered in online mode only.

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Welfare schemes of the Government promoting girls education

Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education is implementing various welfare schemes for incentives for girls education. Under the Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) under Samagra Shiksha. KGBVs are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL). A total of 5726 KGBVs have been sanctioned in the country. Out of it, 5010 KGBVs are functional with the enrolment of 6.54 lakh girls.

The scheme also has a provision of opening of schools in the neighbourhood, free uniform and text-books up to Class VIII, provision of gender segregated toilets in all schools, provision of self-defence training from classes VI to XII and stipend to Divyang girls from class I to Class XII. Special state specific projects such as Life Skills, Awareness programmes, Incinerators, Sanitary Pad Vending Machines etc. for varied interventions under equity are also emphasized under the scheme for enhancing access, retention and quality for girls by promoting enrolment drives, retention and motivation camps, gender sensitization modules etc.

A Central Sector Scheme ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)’is also under implementation since 2008 to award scholarships to meritorious students, including girls, of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to arrest their drop-out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at Secondary Stage. Under the scheme, one lakh fresh scholarships of Rs.12000/- per annum per student are awarded to selected students of class IX every year and are renewed in classes X to XII for study in a State Government, Government-aided and Local body school under the scheme.

Ministry of Education also runs a Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students since 2008 with the objective to provide financial assistance to meritorious students to meet a part of their day-to-day expenses while pursuing higher studies. 50% of the scholarships are earmarked for girls.

IIT Ropar develops first-of-its-kind Oxygen rationing device

To increase the life of medical oxygen cylinders three fold, the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar has developed a first-of-its-kind Oxygen Rationing Device – AMLEX that supplies a required volume of oxygen to the patient during inhalation and trips when the patient exhales CO2. This process saves oxygen which otherwise unnecessarily get wasted.

So far, during exhalation, the oxygen in the oxygen cylinder/pipe is pushed out along with the exhaled CO2 by the user. This leads to wastage of a large volume of oxygen in long run. In addition to this, a large volume of oxygen escapes from the openings of the mask to the environment in the resting period (between inhalation and exhalation) due to continuous flow of life saving gas in the mask. As we have seen the demand of medical oxygen has jumped manifold amid the second wave of Covid-19, the device would help in stopping the unwanted wastage of the same.

“The device can operate on both portable power supply (battery) as well as line supply (220V-50Hz)”, said Director, IIT, Ropar, Prof. Rajeev Ahuja.

It has been developed by PhD students of Biomedical Engineering Department of the institution – Mohit Kumar, Ravinder Kumar and Amanpreet Chander under the guidance of Dr. Ashish Sahani, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering.

“Made specifically for oxygen cylinders, AMLEX can be easily connected between oxygen supply line and the mask worn by the patient. It uses a sensor which senses and successfully detects inhalation and exhalation of the user in any environmental condition”, said Dr Sahani. This ready to use device works with any commercially available oxygen therapy masks having multiple openings for air flow.

Appreciating the innovation, Dr GS Wander, Director, Research and Development at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, said that in the present pandemic times we all have learnt the importance of effective and pertinent use of life saving Oxygen. He said though many hospitals are increasing their oxygen production capacity, a device like this can really help in limiting the use of oxygen in small rural and semi urban health centers.

Prof. Rajeev Ahuja said that the country now needs rapid but safe solutions to combat Covid-19. Since the virus is affecting the lungs and subsequently breathing system of the patient, the institution has not intended to go in for patenting of the device. He said rather the IIT would be happy to transfer this technology free of cost, in the interest of the nation, to those interested to go in for mass production of the device.

World Universities Summit

Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressed the World Universities Summit organized by O.P. Jindal Global University as a Chief Guest. Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also addressed the summit. The theme of the summit was “Universities of the Future: Building Institutional Resilience, Social Responsibility and Community Impact”.

Vice President asked universities to become thought leaders in finding solutions to global challenges such as climate change, poverty and pollution. He also wanted the universities to discuss various socio-economic and political issues facing the world and come up with ideas that can be implemented by the governments as per their needs and suitability.

Referring to the benefits of learning in the mother tongue, the Vice President said it enhances one’s grasping and comprehension levels. “To understand a subject in another language, one has to first learn and master that language, which needs a lot of effort. However, this is not the case while learning in one’s mother tongue,” he added.

Highlighting our country’s rich linguistic and cultural heritage, the Vice President said that India is home to hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects. He said, “Our linguistic diversity is one of the cornerstones of our rich cultural heritage.” Emphasizing on the significance of mother language, Shri Naidu said, “Our mother language or our native language is very special to us, as we share an umbilical cord relationship with it.”

Addressing the participants, Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan emphasized on the Government’s commitment to transform India’s education sector bringing it at par with global standards, encouraging research and innovation and on developing well-rounded responsible citizens, who are also global citizens- Vishwa Manav.

Shri Pradhan said that the New National Education Policy -2020 has heralded a new imagination for the Indian higher education system. It outlines the vision of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to make an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Quality, equity, accessibility and affordability are the four pillars of the new education policy on which a new India will emerge, he added.

Minister Pradhan stated that with the vision of Study In India—Stay In India’, India will move towards becoming a global destination in education. Shri Pradhan highlighted the efforts made by the Government to make education holistic, innovative, linguistically diverse, and multi-disciplinary. No student should suffer due to language limitations or regional linguistic constraints, he added.

He said that the multidisciplinary education and research university (MERU) will open up new opportunities for India’s youth. MERU will promote inter-disciplinary research and make India a global hub of Research and Development, he further added.

Minister Pradhan stressed that synergizing education with skill development will open new avenues of socio-economic empowerment. The NEP will facilitate integration of education with skills and enable India to reap the demographic dividend.

Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Pradhan said that Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the adoption of online learning and use of digital technologies to ensure that learning continues. This mode is going to stay giving way to hybrid methods of learning and knowledge dissemination. Our future planning, therefore, needs to fill a digital divide, he said.

He also congratulated the organizers for event and wished them success in all their endeavors.

Professor (Dr.) D.P. Singh, Chairman, University Grants Commission, Mr. Naveen Jindal, Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor; Professor Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar and other distinguished university leaders from India and overseas, faculty also attended the event.

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Steps taken by the government to ensure equal access to education

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, mandates the appropriate Government to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child of the age 6 to 14 years in a neighbourhood school. During the pandemic, the Ministry of Education has taken various steps for providing children remote access to education, which are available to each category of students including SC/ST irrespective of their region or economic standard.

A comprehensive initiative called PMeVidya has been started which aims to unify all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes all forms of digital modes to provide wide access – DIKSHA (online), SWAYAM (online), SWAYAM PRABHA (TV), other TV Channels including use of Doordarshan and AIR Networks. Further, PRAGYATA guidelines were issued to States/UTs to facilitate continued education through various modes. The guidelines inter-alia include situations where internet connectivity is not available or available with very less bandwidth, these resources are shared through various platforms like television, radio etc that do not depend on internet. An Alternate Academic Calendar has been prepared for learning solutions for grade 1 to 12 for both children with and without device. Besides these, community radio, worksheets & textbooks supplied to residence of learners, home visits by teachers, community classes, toll free numbers, SMS based requests for audio content, localised radio content for edutainment etc have been used. The steps taken by all the states and UTs are shown in the – India Report Digital Education June 2020, which is available at the following link:

https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/India_Report_Digital_Education_0.pdf.

Steps taken by the government to promote IT based education

A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiatedas part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes:

DIKSHA (one nation, one digital platform)is the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all gradesare available on it.
One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel).
Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani.
Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.

In order to promote online education, UGC has notified necessary regulation, which facilitates the Universities to offer full-fledged Online Program. Further, the current provisions of 20 per cent Online courses in a programme, as per provisions of UGC SWAYAM and ODL Regulations to be enhanced up to maximum 40 per cent for implementation considering “National interest during COVID-19” and also to ensure effective utilization of e-resources.

Various digital initiatives are also undertaken by Ministry of education viz. SWAYAM (“Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds”), SWAYAM Prabha, National Digital Library (NDL), Virtual Lab, e-Yantra, NEAT (National Education Alliance for technology), FOSSEE (Free Open-Source Software for Education) etc to ensure quality education to the students.

To improve the internet connectivity in rural areas the CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd (CSC-SPV) of MEITY has been assigned the task of providing Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connectivity to the Government Institutions, including schools.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a ‘Cyber Security Handbook’ to ensure safe and healthy digital habits among students. The ‘Cyber Security Handbook’ can be accessed at this link:

http://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Manuals/Cyber_Safety_Manual.pdf.

An Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA has been launched it is a capacity building programme for “Improving Quality of School Education through Integrated Teacher Training“.NISHTHA can be accessed from the below link:https://itpd.ncert.gov.in//

Schemes of the Government to ensure education for all Citizens

During COVID-19 Pandemic, Government of India has held various consultations with the States and UTs at different levels. Also, a brain storming session was held with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in January, 2021 for taking their views/ perspectives to assess and to bridge the learning gap in the Covid-19 pandemic period.

Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. However, to ensure thatevery student gets continued access to education, a multi-pronged approach has been adopted. A comprehensive initiative called PM e-VIDYA has been initiated as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes:

DIKSHA (one nation, one digital platform) is the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades are available on it. 35 of the 36 states and UTs have on boarded on DIKSHA platform and contextualised the content as per the local need.
One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from Class 1 to 12 (one class, one channel).
Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani.
Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.

Besides, the Ministry has undertaken a proactive initiative, named, ‘MANODARPAN’ covering a wide range of activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing during the COVID outbreak and beyond.

The Central Government is constantly advising States/UTs through guidelines and meetings with respect to interventions for reducing impact of pandemic on education. The guidelines issued so far are given below:

S.No.	Interventions	Links of Guideline
1.	Guidelines for Children of Migrant Labourers	https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/Migrant%20labour%20guideline.pdf
2.	Guidelines for Out of School Children and Mitigation of Loss of Learning	https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/guidelines_oosc.pdf
3.	PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education	https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/pragyata-guidelines_0.pdf
4.	Learning Enhancement Guidelines for Continuous Learning	https://ncert.nic.in/pdf/announcement/Learning_%20Enhancement_Guidelines.pdf
5.	Covid-19 Related Health and Safety Sop/Guidelines for School Re-Opening	https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/SOP_Guidelines_for_reopening_schools.pdf
6.	Covid Action Plan for School Education	https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/Covid_Action_Plan.pdf
7.	Alternate Academic Calendar	Secondary- https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/Academic%20Calender%20-%20Secondary%20-%20Eng.pdf Primary- – https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/Eight_Weeks_AAC_Primary_%28English%29%5B1%5D_0.pdf
8.	Guidelines for JNV –Residential Schools	https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LAc4iKQTqTJkNVDGc5glEDsrDGdAXwC8/view
9.	Guidelines for parents on Home Based Education	https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/MoE_Home_Learning_Guidelines.pdf
10.	Guidelines for orphaned Children	In this regard, a joint DO letter No. 13-10/2021-IS-11 dated 16.06.2021 from Secretary DoSEL, MoE and Secretary, MWCD has been issued to all States and UTs.
11.	Guidelines for developing E-content for CWSN	https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/CWSN_E-Content_guidelines.pdf
12.	CBSE competency-based assessment framework	http://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Manuals/Safal_handbook.pdf
13.	NCTE Guidelines for TEIs	https://ncte.gov.in/WebAdminFiles/RecentAnnouncement/0_20_08_2020_637335320672297662.pdf

The details of the major schemes to promote education in the country implemented by the Government of India are as follows:

(I) Samagra Shiksha: The Government of India launched Samagra Shiksha-an Integrated Scheme for school education, w.e.f 2018-19, as an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education, across the country including the rural areas. The scheme has now been aligned to NEP, 2020 recommendations and extended till 2025-26. The scheme provides support to States and UTs for strengthening of infrastructure in schools, universal access, bringing gender equality, promoting inclusive education, quality of education, financial support for teachers’ salary, digital initiatives, entitlements under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 including uniforms and textbooks, pre-school education, vocational education, sports and physical education and strengthening of teacher education institutions.

(II) Mid-Day-Meal (MDM): Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) is an on-going Centrally-Sponsored Scheme which provides nutritional supplement to all school children studying in Classes I-VIII of Government, Government-Aided schools, Special Training Centres including Madarsas and Maqtabs.

(III) Padhna Likhna Abhiyan: A centrally sponsored scheme of Adult Education namely, “Padhna Likhna Abhiyan (PLA)” was implemented during 2020-21 with a physical target of imparting functional literacy to 57 lakh adult illiterates in the age group of 15 and above under basic literacy programme. The scheme was extended upto 31.07.2021.

(IV) Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) is an overarching scheme, operating in mission mode for funding the State Government Universities and colleges to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.The funding to states being made on the basis of critical appraisal of State Higher Education Plans, which describe each state’s strategy to address issues of equity, access and excellence in higher education.

Further, in order to improve the education standards in the country, the Government has taken several steps:-

Central RTE Rules have been amended on 20th February, 2017 to include reference on class-wise, subject-wise Learning Outcomes at Elementary level.
National Achievement Survey (NAS) is conducted to enable States/UTs to identify gaps in learning outcomes, and take remedial steps.
A 70 indicator based matrix Performance Grading Index (PGI) has been developed to grade the States/UTs.
NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement), an Integrated Teacher Training Programme has been introduced.
Learning Outcomes for Secondary level have been notified.
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) was entrusted to conduct teachers training through ODL (Open Distance Learning) mode, which has been completed by about 9.58 lakh teachers.

Also, the National Education Policy, 2020 focuses on improving the standard of education through various measures such as introduction of New pedagogical and curricular structure, Early Childhood Care and Education, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, Transforming Assessment for Student Development, Experiential and Competency based Learning etc.

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