The Centre government will release Rs 2,500 crore to ensure students continue to receive online education despite the pandemic. The decision was taken by Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today in a meeting with School Education Secretaries of all States and UTs. The meeting was held virtually. He emphasized on reaching out to the most vulnerable and marginalized children in this pandemic period. An ad-hoc grant to the tune of Rs 5228 crore has already been released to the states under Samagra Shiksha.
Pokhriyal addressing the states said that the current situation of COVID-19 is unfortunate, but “Government is committed to turning the situation into an opportunity by doing new experiments to ensure safety and academic welfare of students”.
The Department has started conducting the meetings of the Project Approval Board for approval of Annual Work Plan and Budgets of the states under Samagra Shiksha in the virtual mode so that the states and UTs can get timely approvals for implementation of the above interventions.
All states and UTs have shared their strategy for continuing the learning process during the pandemic. Haryana and Gujarat shared the details about the assessment being done by the state while schools are not opened. Many states such as Jharkhand, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have made digital apps to promote learning. The pivotal role of parents and communities have been highlighted by all the states and UTs. States and UTs also shared the details to promote online learning through digital devises, Doordarshan and Radio etc.
Minister discusses the various measures adopted for the management of the education system during COVID and the different strategies adopted for online and offline learning in Schools so far and the way forward.
The Ministry had takeup several initiatives in 2020-21 for facilitating continuous learning during the pandemic which will continue during the second wave as well. These include expansion of DIKSHA under PM eVIDYA; DTH TV channels under the bouquet of SWAYAM PRABHA TV channels; launch of online NISHTHA training for teachers at DIKSHA; Launch of Manodarpan to cater to the socio-emotional and psychological needs of the students, etc. Also, several initiatives have been taken to reach out to children without access to digital education. He also underlined the importance of involving various stakeholders for the effective implementation of the National Education Policy 2020.
Minister of State for Education Shri Sanjay Dhotre; Secretary, Higher Education Shri Amit Khare; Secretary, School Education and Literacy Smt Anita Karwal and senior officials of the Ministry were present in the meeting. Representatives from almost all the States and UTs attended the meeting including additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries Education Department; and with other State officials such as the State Project Directors, Director SCERT aming others
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