Initiatives and Achievements of Ministry of Human Resource Development
Year 2016 has
been a yet another landmark year in the field of education as 'Education For
All & Quality Education' guided policy actions and decisions enabling
transformation, that emphasized upon making education Available, Accessible,
Affordable and Accountable.
While 'Education
for All' has driven the expansion in education with new institutes of
School (KVS, NVS) & Higher Education (IITs,
IIMs, IIITs, IISER) and Institutional capacity building initiatives like, SWAYAM PRABHA - 32 DTH channels on 24X7
basis for educational programmes, restructuring of IIT fees to make more
inclusive, Amendments in UGC Act to make more gender sensitive, SWAYAM - MOOCs,
Swachh Vidyalaya and e-governance initiatives like ShaGun
Portal, e-Pathshala,
Shaala
Siddhi etc.
On the other hand 'Quality Education'
has been emphasized with the thrust on promoting research & innovation, and
initiatives like Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT),
Global Initiative of Academic Network (GIAN), National Institutional Ranking Framework
(NIRF),
Higher Educational Financing Agency (HEFA), Digital ISBN, National Academic Depository (NAD),
Seema Darshan, Kala Utsav, Prashikshak Portal etc.
Reaching out to all stakeholders
including academicians & industry with the student-centric approach,
leveraging technology as important catalyst in transforming education and
focusing on improvement of learning outcomes, the developmental initiatives have
been essentially layered in matrix of 4 'A's in response to ensure 'Quality
Education'.
Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA)
Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with
State Governments for universalizing elementary education across the country.
Its overall goals include universal access and retention, bridging of gender
and social category gaps in education and enhancement of learning levels of
children.
SSA
provides for a variety of interventions, including inter alia, opening of new
schools, construction of schools and additional classrooms, toilets and
drinking water, provisioning for teachers, periodic teacher training and
academic resource support, textbooks and support for learning achievement.
These provisions are made in accordance with norms and standards and free
entitlements as mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
The
releases to States and UTs under SSA have gone up from Rs. 19594.07 Crores in
2010-11 to Rs.21590.14 Crores in 2015-16. Against the BE 2016-17 of Rs.22500
Crores an amount of Rs.18995.58 Crores (84.42%) has been released to States/UTs
in 2016-17 so far.
Improvement
in Educational Indicators
· The
census 2011 estimated 20.78 crore children in the 6-13 age group.
· As
per UDISE 2015-16, enrolment in elementary schools was 19.67 crore children in
14.49 lakh elementary schools.
· There
has been a significant reduction in the number of out of school children in the
6-14 years age group, from 134.6 lakh in 2005 to 81 lakh in 2009 and further to
61 lakh in 2014.
· The
annual average dropout rate at primary level has come down from 9.11% in
2009-10 to 4.13% in 2015-16.
· The
transition rate from primary to upper primary has gone up from 83.53% in
2009-10 to 90.14% in 2015-16.
· The
Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) has improved from 32 in 2009-10 to 24 in 2015-16.
Focus
on Quality of Education
SSA has made
significant progress in achieving near universal access and equity. However,
imparting quality education to children at elementary level is the major
challenge and therefore, reorienting the SSA programme towards quality is the
main emphasis of the Department.
·
During the 64th meeting of the
Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) held on 25.10.2016,
the key issues affecting the quality of school education in States and UTs were
discussed and specific action points were identified including the
rationalization of teacher deployment, mechanisms to ensure teacher
accountability, consolidation of low enrolment schools and use of technology
for effective monitoring among others.
Right to Education was discussed with specific reference
to untrained teachers and No Detention Policy. It was an issue of concern
that learning outcomes are deteriorating. Therefore:
(i)
It was agreed that learning outcomes should
be codified and be made a part of rules of RTE.
(ii)
It was also agreed that there has to be
accountability of all stakeholders for improving learning outcomes.
(iii)
It was further agreed that Central
Government may bring in suitable amendment which will give States freedom to
review “No Detention Policy.”
(iv)
The task of completing the training of
untrained teachers should be completed within the next 5 years.
·
Department of School Education and Niti Aayog are jointly developing a
School Education Quality Index (SEQI) in consultation with all States and
UTs. This index aims to institutionalize a focus on improving education
outcomes (learning, access, equity) as the principle aim of school education
policy in India. This is expected to launch by January 2017.
·
Shagun portal – an Initiative to monitor the implementation of SSA
ShaGun a web portal
(from the words Shaala and Gunvatta) is being developed by Ministry of HRD. It
has two components i.e. one is a Repository of best practices, photographs,
videos, studies, newspaper articles etc on elementary education, State /UT
wise. These would be in the public domain with the purpose to provide a
platform for all stakeholders to learn from success stories of each other. This
would also instill a positive competitive spirit among all the States and UTs.
The second part
is regarding the online monitoring of the SSA implemented by States and UTs
and will be accessed by Government Officers at all levels using their specific
passwords. It comprises questionnaires, related to various interventions under
SSA and the performance of the State, which will be filled in by the States and
UTs. There are 122 Reports which will be automatically generated from the data
filled in the questionnaires. These Reports, along with the success stories in
the Repository, will create an online platform which can be viewed by officers
in the Department, PMO, Niti Aayog etc., to see the status of implementation of
the SSA and the elementary education in all States and UTs.
Sub-Programmes
under SSA
In addition to
these, the Department is supporting States and UTs to implement national level
initiatives to improve the quality of education. These include;
a
sub-programme of the SSA, in classes I and II focusing on foundational learning
in early grades with an emphasis on reading, writing and comprehension and
Mathematics. States and UTs have been implementing specific interventions like
ABL in Tamil Nadu, Nalli Kali in Karnataka, Pragya in Gujarat; steps have been
taken to develop specific teacher training modules for teachers teaching
students in classes 1 and 2. Punjab, Meghalaya, Delhi have introduced
programmes for strengthening teaching of maths in classes 1 and 2; in Sikkim
schools have set up reading corners for children in the foundational classes through
support from community members
It is
also under the SSA, was launched by Late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. This aims to
motivate and engage children of the age group 6-18 years, in Science,
Mathematics and Technology by observation, experimentation, inference drawing
and model building, through both inside and outside classroom activities.
Schools have been adopted for mentoring by Institutions of Higher Education
like IIT’s, IISER’s and NIT’s. In some States students have been taken for
exposure visits to factories, research hubs; science and mathematics clubs are
being formed at the school levels, students are participating in competitions
and exhibitions to showcase their innovations in Maths, Science and Technology.
(iii)
Vidyanjali
This is
sub-programme under SSA launched to enhance community and private sector
involvement in Government run elementary schools across the country under the
overall aegis of the SSA. The aim of the programme is to strengthen
implementation of co-scholastic activities in government schools through
services of volunteers. So far 3306 Volunteers registered for the programme
creating 10443 activities to be conducted in schools, 841 Volunteers have gone
to schools and conducted activities.
·
Some Recent Initiatives taken by the Department for Improving Quality
of Elementary Education as follows:
i.
Grade-wise learning goals from Class I-VIII are being framed and will be
displayed on the notice board of all schools. These will also be incorporated
in the Central Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Rules
as a guideline for States and UTs to ensure that all children acquire
appropriate learning levels.
ii.
National Achievement Survey will be conducted annually from
2017 instead of once in every 3 years, as per current practice. This will
enable regular assessment of learning levels of the children and help to give
an insight into the pedagogical and policy changes required to improve these
learning levels further.
iii.
Emphasis is being laid on effective implementation of Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) of students in all government and aided
schools.
iv.
Grade-wise weak students have been identified for remedial classes,
to ensure that all students acquire grade-appropriate learning levels.
v.
All school going children in the age group of 5 to 18 years in the
country is being covered under Aadhar. This would help in tracking of children
so that they do not dropout from school and also for monitoring their
academic progress and for ensuring benefits to be disbursed to them in cash
or kind under various schemes. Currently, 23.24 crore children in this age
group have already been covered under Aadhar against the total enrolment of
26.07 crore children in the same age group.
vi.
States and UTs are taking steps to provide all teachers with Aadhar Card
to prevent bogus teachers in the system. So far data of 16.10 lakh teachers is available.
Also, Grade-wise photos of teachers are being displayed on the school notice
board in all government and aided schools. This would enable all students and
their parents to know the regular teachers in that school and will discourage
the practice of 'proxy' teachers.
vii.
The Department is preparing guidelines for rationalizing and positive
consolidation of small schools, especially with zero or very low enrolment, in
States. This would help the States in effectively running their schools with
viable strength of both students and teachers.
viii.
The Department has framed guidelines for “Partnership between
Schools” Programme, which aims to link schools located in rural areas with
private, aided, or government schools in urban or semi urban areas. All States
and UTs have been requested to take necessary action in this direction and
design the modalities of the programme within the broad guidelines issued by
the Department.
The
objectives of the initiative include (i) bring all students to one common
platform, (ii) to share experiences and learn from each other, (iii) provide
opportunities to the teaching fraternity to adopt better and more effective
practices and (iv) to instill a spirit of sharing, caring and togetherness.
The
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has reported that 25 Kendriya Vidyalayas
have partnered with 25 State Government Schools for this programme. Central
Board of Secondary Education has informed that 147 well functioning schools
affiliated to the Board have partnered with Government run schools in rural
areas.
ix.
School Location Mapping: A website has been enabled which shows the location of all the
schools on a map of India. The schools can be searched by name, location, UDISE
code etc. The school report card has been integrated with the coordinates of
the schools. 18 States have achieved more than 95% coverage of their schools
and against a total of 15,22,925 schools (as per UDISE 2015-16), 11,96,117
schools (78.54%) have been mapped.
x.
A concept paper on carrying out student evaluation of teacher
performance in government and government-aided schools is being developed
by NCERT.
xi.
A State-wise training calendar for head master training has been
prepared by NUEPA to ensure capacity building of all headmasters and head
teachers.
xii.
All States and UTs have been advised to enhance the use of
e-governance in school management to facilitate faster and efficient
decision making. For this, software developed by the State of Gujarat has been
shared by the Department.
xiii.
Guidelines are being prepared for creation of a separate cadre of
school headmaster/principal in States and UTs. This would equip the schools
with an effective leader and improve their management.
xiv.
A study has been initiated in the States of Uttarakhand, Gujarat,
Karnataka and Odisha to assess the time spent by teachers in non-teaching
related activities and its adverse impact on education.
xv.
An advisory for drafting a suitable Teacher Tenure Policy has been
issued to States and UTs to fix a minimum tenure for teachers in rural areas.
xvi.
A study has been initiated to standardize all data definitions,
methodology of collecting each data and identifying critical data gaps.
xvii.
A plan is being finalized by NCERT, in consultation with Pandit
Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal,
for extending the scheme for vocationalisation at upper primary level.
Some pilots will be conducted from next Academic session in some classes of
upper primary level.
·
Regular Communication and Interaction with States and UTs
To
further highlight the need and importance of devising a strategy for enhancing
the quality of education, the Department has communicated frequently with
States and UTs, as under:
i. Secretary
(School Education and Literacy) has written (letter dated September 17, 2016)
to Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs sharing a national level reform
agenda to improving quality of school education and requesting every State and
UT to prepare their reform agenda.
ii.
Secretary (School Education and Literacy) has written to Chief
Secretaries (letter dated 30th September 2016) of all States and UTs
highlighting the performance of students in the Class 5, National Achievement
Survey (cycle 4) conducted by NCERT during 2014. States and UTs have been asked
to prepare a roadmap to improve the learning levels of their students and to
intimate this to the Ministry.
Teacher
Education (TE):
National Council for Teacher
Education (NCTE) Regulations, 2014- Norms and Standards: The NCTE was
established by an Act (No.73 of 1993) of Parliament with a view to achieving
planned and co-ordinate development of the teacher education system throughout
the country, the regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards in
the teacher education system, and for matters connected therewith. NCTE revised
Regulations was notified in November 2014.
1. TESS-India programme for Teacher
Educators with collaboration between Department for International
Development (DfID) and MHRD with UK’s Open University as the implementing
agency. The duration of the first phase of the project was June, 2012 to May,
2015 and the project aims towards development of Teacher Developmental Units
(TDUs) for 7 States (U.P, Bihar, M.P, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka) in
Mathematics, Science, English, Social Science and Leadership. The TESS-India
project duration has been extended upto March, 2017.
2. Monitoring
through Joint Review Mission: The Centrally sponsored Scheme on Teacher
Education puts emphasis on monitoring of the process and outcome parameters in
respect of each level of institution. Joint Review Missions is a part of a
comprehensive monitoring mechanism of Teachers’ Education scheme. Joint Review
Mission consisting of experts in Teacher Education has been sent to 30 States
from the year 2012-13 till 2016-17 for ensuring effective implementation of
Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Teacher Education (CSSTE).
3. National and
Regional workshop under TE-Scheme: Various National and Regional Workshops
(1National Workshop and 1 Regional Workshop- North Eastern Region) have been
conducted under CSSTE to review the effective implementation of the Teacher
Education Scheme and to envisage future roadmap and initiatives. The main
objective of these Regional workshops was to review the
implementation of Teacher education Scheme, preparing the comprehensive Annual
Work Plan & Budget proposal for the year 2016-17, Challenges in preparing
the AWP, Key activities under CSSTE, Priorities areas under CSSTE and Status of
Revision of Curriculum and other aspects as per NCTE Regulations 2014.
New
Activities/Initiatives under CSSTE Scheme
·
Prashikshak Teacher Education Portal:
Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched Prashikshak, a teacher
education portal on 30.06.2016 for a strong monitoring mechanism, which would
contain a database of all 588 DIETs in the country with all relevant
information about the institutes including performance indicators.
The objective of Prashikshak is to
help DIETs make informed decisions about their institutes, compare the
performance of their institute against other DIETs in the state/country as well
as help aspiring teachers make informed decisions about which institute to
join. The major stakeholders and users of the portal are: Teacher Educators;
DIET principals and faculty; Policy makers at District, State Government and
National Level; Student Teachers; In-service trainer teachers; and the General
public.
·
Enhanced use of E-Governance in Teacher Education by
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) for better regulation of the
sector.
·
Accreditation for Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) by
National Council for Teacher Education for better
management and improved quality of teacher education.
·
Mapping of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) for providing comprehensive status of 18,000+ recognised TEIs spread
across the country in the public domain, a Geographical Information System
(GIS) has been introduced online for mapping the TEIs. GIS mapping of more than
7000 institutions have been undertaken.
·
NCTE has also undertaken a demand and supply gap for 2015-16 to 2025-26 to ascertain
teacher demand and supply up to district level and subject-teacher level at all
levels of schooling.
· Ranking for NCTE affiliated Institutes on 10th March 2016, a committee has
been constituted to develop accreditation/grading framework for of the Teacher
Education Institutions.
·
Four Year Integrated B.Ed. Programme by 2017-18 So far, 198 institutions have been
granted recognition by NCTE.
Mid-Day Meal
(MDM)
Mid Day
Meal is a centrally sponsored programme designed with a view to
enhancing enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving
nutritional levels among children. Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015 notified
on 30th September 2015 to ensure quality nutrition and effective
monitoring. Also, two recent interventions viz Tithi
Bhojan and Social Audit are designed to attract community participation and
channelize it for enrichment of Mid Day Meal Scheme.
The
Central Government has requested the States to consider the concept of Tithi Bhojan for mid day meals in a suitable
manner, to encourage local community participation the programme. Social Audit, another intervention under this
Scheme means is a process in which people collectively monitor and evaluate the
planning and implementation of the Scheme. It is viewed as an ongoing process
of public vigilance.
Union Budgetary
Allocation:
|
Year
Wise Outlay under Mid Day Meal Scheme (Rs. in Crore)
|
|||
|
Financial
Year
|
Budget
Estimate
|
Revised
Estimate
|
Releases
|
|
2016-17
|
9700.00
|
-----------
|
5471.99
(as
on 26-09-2016)
|
|
2015-16
|
9236.40
|
9236.40
|
9151.55
|
Community
Participation:
Mothers are encouraged to take turns to oversee the feeding of the children,
thus ensuring quality and regularity of the meal. For this, they need to devote
only a couple of hours once or twice in a month. This simple intervention of
‘mothers watch’, gives them a voice and a role and greater ownership of the
programme.
Reports from
Chattisgarh’s Baster district indicate that the involvement of mothers
“MITANIN” has not only led to a significant improvement in cooking and hygiene but
also a change in attitude on the part of the teachers with the decline in
absenteeism. In Himachal Pradesh, mothers have been involved for supervision
and duty rosters are being maintained. Similar rosters have been introduced in
Madhya Pradesh. In Uttrakhand mothers are appointed as Bhojan Mata and Sahayika
in all primary school.
Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) is a Centrally
Sponsored Scheme that envisages inter-alia provision of a secondary school
within a reasonable distance of any habitation and to improve quality of
education imparted at secondary level by making all secondary schools conform
to prescribed norms, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers
etc. In 2013, secondary education the schemes of ICT, vocational education,
Girls Hostel and IEDSS were subsumed under the umbrella of RMSA.
Under
RMSA the status of the physical achievement:-
1.
New schools
|
Year
|
No.
of new schools Approved
|
Functional
|
|
Since
inception to till date
|
12394
|
10924
|
|
2016-17
|
1073
|
463
|
2.
Strengthening of existing Secondary schools
|
Year
|
Additional
Class Rooms
|
Science
Labs
|
Computer
Rooms
|
Library
|
Art/craft/
culture rooms
|
Drinking
Water facility
|
Toilet block
|
|
Since
inception
to till date
|
52083
|
25865
|
20625
|
25964
|
29960
|
11848
|
20271
|
|
2016-17
|
3620
|
1932
|
1365
|
2186
|
2545
|
470
|
1347
|
3.
Expansion of coverage of VE: Under the scheme number of vocational
trades have also expanded from initial 4 trades to 16 vocational trades till
date including Automobile, Agriculture, Beauty & Wellness, Health Care, IT
& ITeS, Media & Entertainment, Physical Education & Sports, Retail,
Security, Telecommunication, Rubber and Travel & Tourism.
Year
wise Approval and progress is as under:
|
Year
|
No. of schools Approved
|
Functional
|
|
Total
|
7448
|
3792
|
|
2016-17
|
3667
|
|
4.
Under Girls Hostel Year-wise Approval and functional Status
is as follows:
|
Year
|
No. of Girls Hostel Approved
|
Functional
|
|
Total
|
2483
|
985
|
|
2016-17
|
450
|
|
5.
Year-wise Approval under ICT is as follows:
|
Year
|
No. of schools Approved
|
Functional
|
|
Total
|
88078
|
57007
|
|
2016-17
|
4475
|
|
6.
Year wise Financial Progress is as follows:
Rs. in Crore
|
Year
|
Allocation
|
GOI Releases
|
|
2016-17
|
3700.00
|
2786.56 ( as on
14.12.2016)
|
7.
Some of the significant initiatives, under RMSA for improving quality of
education are as below: -
(i)
Shaala Siddhi
School
Standards and Evaluation Framework and its web portal were launched on 7th
November 2015. It is a comprehensive instrument for
school evaluation leading to school improvement. Developed by the National
University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), it aims to
enable schools to evaluate their performance in a more focused and strategic
manner and facilitate them to make professional judgments for improvement. The
objective is to establish an agreed set of standards and benchmarks for each
school, by focusing on key performance domains and their core standards. The
web portal for the framework will enable all schools to engage in
self-evaluation in the 7 key domains under the Framework. The results of the
evaluations will be available on a public platform along with the School Report
card.
In
the Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting to consider the Annual Work Plan &
Budget of the States/UTs for the year 2016-17, States and UTs have been advised
to implement Shaala Siddhi programme for all schools. 25 States/UTs covering
nearly 9000 schools have implemented Shaala Siddhi so far.
ii) Shaala Darpan:
The “Shaala
Darpan Project” to cover all the 1099 Kendriya Vidyalayas was launched on
05.06.2015. The objective of this project is to provide services based on
School Management Systems to Students, Parents and Communities. Under School
Information Services, the following list of services will be enabled i.e.,
School Profile Management, Student Profile Management, Employee Information,
Student Attendance, Leave Management, Report Cards, Curriculum Tracking Custom,
SMS Alerts for Parents / Administrators on student & teacher attendance.
During the
current financial year 2016-17, 3224 schools have been approved for
implementing School Management Project on pilot basis in States/UTs with total
outlay of Rs. 393.445 lakh. This will help in ensuring better and transparent
administration in the schools.
(iii) e- PATHSHALA
It is a single point
repository of e-resources containing, NCERT textbooks and various other
learning resources. It is a joint initiative
of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India and National
Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) developed for showcasing
and disseminating all educational e-resources including textbooks, audio,
video, periodicals, and a variety of other print and non-print materials.
Students,
Teachers, Educators and Parents can access e-Books through multiple technology
platforms i.e. mobile phones and tablets (as e-pub) and from the web through
laptops and desktops (as Flipbook). e-Pathshala also allows user to carry us
many books as their device supports. Features of these books allow users to
pinch, select, bookmark, highlight, navigate, share and make notes digitally.
(iv) GIS MAPPING:
To ensure universal
access to schools including secondary schools within a reasonable distance of
any habitation and without any discrimination, the Geographic coordinates of
school along with the school information available in UDISE is being uploaded
on the school GIS Web enabled platform i.e. http://schoolgis.nic.in.
All states have conducted GIS mapping and shared geographical coordinates of
schools with the NIC except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. This mapping is
linked to the UDISE database to ensure that every school is mapped and is
backed by a detailed school report card based on UDISE information. This effort
of developing web enabled platform about school information (Spatial and Non
Spatial data) will add to the quality of planning and better utilization of
resources available under SSA and RMSA. As on 30.11.2016, against the total
of 15,22,925 schools (as per UDISE 2015-16), 11,96,117 (78.54%) schools have
been mapped on GIS portal.
(v)
National Achievement Survey for Class X
The National
Achievement Survey for Class X has been undertaken for the first time by MHRD.
A summary report on the National Achievement Survey (NAS) Class X was submitted
by NCERT to the Ministry on 4th January, 2016. The survey
investigates student achievement in five subjects: English, Mathematics, Social
Science, Science and Modern Indian Language. The test has been administered in
33 States and Union Territories after a scientific and robust process of sample
design, test development and translation, with rigorous adherence to technical
procedures.
The achievement
of a child is dependent on various background factors, which have been
collected in detail under the survey. Accordingly, teachers training
(pre-service and in-service) programmes will be designed on the basis of NAS
findings to improve pedagogical aspects in relation to different subjects. It
will also help States to revisit curriculum expectations and initiate
curriculum reforms. The State Report Card has also been forwarded to the
States/UTs.
(vi)
Kala Utsav:
Kala
Utsav is an initiative of MHRD to promote Arts (Music, Theatre, Dance, Visual
Arts and Crafts) in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of
school students at secondary stage in the country, and it is also a platform to
bring arts to the centre stage in an inclusive environment.
As part of Kala
Utsav, Competitions in the four themes of Music, Dance, Theatre and Visual Arts
were held at District and State levels and the winning teams thereafter
participated at the National level Kala Utsav 2016 which was held at New Delhi
from 15-18th November, 2016. Nearly 1700 Students from all 36 States/UTs, KVS
and NVS participated in the event.
(vii) Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan
Rashtriya
Avishkar Abhiyan was launched on 9th July 2015 to focus on
Science and Mathematics. Under this, training of 1.04 lakh Science and
Mathematics teacher, Math and Science Kit, excursion trip to science centers
and Museum for students, special teaching on science and mathematics, science
exhibition at district level, teaching of Vedic mathematics etc has been
included under RMSA. During the current financial year 2016-17, an amount of
Rs. 157.31 crore has been approved for the RAA Project on Science &
Mathematics.
(viii) National Award for Teachers:
Using ICT for Innovation in Education
Under the ICT in
Schools, to promote computer enabled learning and usage of ICT in teaching in
Government and Government aided Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools has
provision for instituting the National Award for innovative use of ICT to
motivate the Teachers and Teacher Educators for innovative use of ICT in
teaching-learning.
The National
Award for Teachers using ICT for innovation in education for the 2015 was given
away to the 11 teachers along with the National Teacher Award on Teachers Day,
2016.
(ix) Data base of Students and Teachers:
As on
30.11.2016, 24,49,20,190 (approx 70%) children in the age group of 5 to 18
years have been enrolled under Aadhar, as against 20,94,34,376 Children
(59.8 %) at the end of December, 2015.
Data of
50,77,029 teachers was captured including Aadhar of 16,10,487, email of
20,20,687 and mobile number of 37,59,705 teachers, and uploaded on e-Sampark
portal. NUEPA has incorporated the aforesaid details in its Data Capture
Format (DCF) for UDISE, which will ensure its periodic updation.
(x) Seema Darshan
It is an
initiative to provide an opportunity for the children to experience the border
environment and to foster patriotism among the students. Ministry of HRD in
collaboration with Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of
India has organized “Seema Darshan” for students from Kendriya Vidyalayas and
Navodaya Vidyalayas during 22nd-26th January, 2016 during
which students visited Akhnoor and Attari Borders. The Phase-II
of Seema Darshan was organized in the month of June 2016 during which two
batches of students visited Dharchula between 14th-21st
June 2016 and Nathu-La during 14th-19th June 2016.
The Minister of
State for Human Resource Development, Shri Upendra Kushwaha addressing at the
inauguration of the Festival-cum-Exhibition “Azadi 70 Saal - Yaad Karo
Kurbani, Mera Desh Mera Gaurav”, in New Delhi on September 02, 2016.
Swachh
Vidyalaya Initiative
The
Swachh Vidyalaya initiative was a collaborative effort of all the Central
Government which provided funding through Centrally sponsored schemes of Sarv
Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, Swachh Bharat Kosh, and
the States and Union Territories in partnership with 64 Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs) and 11 Private Corporate.
At
the time of launch of the initiative, the gap in availability of functional
toilets in all government schools was assessed and interventions were planned
based on the assessment to ensure that every child had access to a gender
segregated toilet facility. 4,17,796 toilets were constructed/made functional
in 2,61,400 schools in a period of one year up to 15th August,
2015.
During
June 2016, DoSEL has instituted Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar to recognize inspire and celebrate excellence in sanitation
& hygiene practice in Government Schools. Schools will be awarded
for undertaking significant steps towards fulfilling the mandate of Swachh
Vidyalaya campaign in the following areas:
- Water
- Sanitation
- Hand washing with
soap
- Operations & Maintenance
- Behavior change &
capacity building.
The
Ministry of Human Resource Development also observed Swachhta Pakhwada from 1st September
to 15th September, 2016.
Swachhtam
Vidyalaya and Harit Vidyalaya
In order to emphasize upon
clean and green environment in Kendriya Vidyalayas, ‘Swachhtam Vidyalaya’
and ‘Harit Vidyalaya’ Awards have been instituted by Kendriya Vidyalaya
Sangathan from the session 2016-17 at regional level with running trophies and
cash awards.
Other
Achievements:
A) National Swachhata Award to
KV FRI, Dehradun
Hon’ble
Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi awarded National Swachhata Award to KV FRI,
which was adjudged Cleanest School of India.
B)
The Ministry of Human Resource
Development website has
been awarded Platinum in the Web-Ratna Category in the recently concluded
Digital India awards, 2016. Web-Ratna award felicitates a Ministry or
Department of the Government of India which has a comprehensive web presence
and display the level of accountability in terms of quantity, quality, spectrum
of coverage, and innovation ascertaining user satisfaction. Level of
convenience provided to the citizen for availing the services, usability and
accessibility are also assessed.
Ø The website of the Ministry of HRD conforms to the UUU
(usable, user-centric and universally accessible) trilogy.
Ø Bilingual as per the directions of Parliamentary Committee
of official languages
Ø Accessible to all and special features have also been
incorporated in the website for visually challenged users.
Ø The website complies with the mandatory requirements of
Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) and is STQC Certified.
Ø It
connects with social media and is kept updated.
C) Hon’ble
Prime Minister of India Sh. Narendra Modi awarded MyGov Prize for “Duties of Citizen Contest” organized
by MyGov to two students of Kendriya Vidyalaya.
Adult Education
(AE):
Adult
Education Bureau is dealing with two main Plan Schemes namely; Adult Education
Skill Development (Saakshar Bharat) and Scheme of Support to
NGO/Institutions/SRCs for Adult Education & Development (under which funds
are being given to State Resource Centres & Jan Shikshan Sansthans).
Scheme
wise details of Fund Allocation for XII Five Year Plan and Expenditure are as
under:
(Rs. in Crores)
|
Sl. No.
|
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|
1.
|
|||||||
|
2.
|
|||||||
Major Achievements under Saakshar Bharat
programme
A.
Persons made literate:
Saakshar Bharat has set up
a target to make 7 Crore adult learners literate by the end of XII Five Year
Plan. Till March 2016, Twelve biannual assessment tests were conducted in which
around 6.97 Crore learners (Male 2.02& Female 4.95 Crores) appeared. Out of
which, 5.13 Crore (3.65 Crore female and 1.48 Crore male) have successfully
passed and declared literate. In addition, one crore learners have reportedly
appeared in the assessment test conducted on August 2016. The result of the
assessment test is under compilation.
The
details of biannual assessment test conducted since 2014-15 on words.
|
Test Conducted
|
Appeared
|
Certified
as literate
|
Rate
of Success
|
|
August 2014
|
37.78 lakh
|
27.97 lakh
|
74.03%
|
|
March 2015
|
69.10 lakh
|
51.51 lakh
|
74.54%
|
|
August 2015
|
110.19 lakh
|
80.96 lakh
|
73.47%
|
|
March 2016
|
88.82 lakh
|
67.14 lakh
|
75.59%
|
|
Total
|
305.89
lakh
|
227.58
lakh
|
74.40%
|
B.
Achievements under Convergence Activities:
National
Literacy Mission Authority has undertaken various activities involving convergence
and linkages relating to empowerment issues like Electoral Literacy,
Financial Literacy and Legal Literacy and also taken proactive initiative
for alignment of Saakshar Bharat with Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana in achieving
100% literacy.
i)
A special drive was undertaken by NLMA in 17 Saakshar Bharat States to
motivate & mobilize more than one crore Saakshar Bharat beneficiaries to
open their Bank Accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojna (PMJDY).
ii)
NLMA participated in Suraksha Bandhan Drive for Pradhan Mantri
Suraksha BimaYojana (PMSBY). State Literacy Mission Authorities, State
Resource Centres and Jan Shikshan Sansthans mobilized more than 1.02 crore
beneficiaries to avail the benefits of the scheme.
Department
of Higher Education
NEW EDUCATION
POLICY (NEP)
The
Government had initiated the process of formulating a New Education Policy to
meet the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement with regard 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. The objective of the consultation process was to ensure that an
inclusive, participatory and holistic approach is undertaken, which takes into
consideration expert opinions, field experiences, empirical research,
stakeholder feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices.
After thematic
consultations in the previous year with all institutions and stakeholders under
MHRD, six zonal meetings were also held on NEP with the State Education
Ministers, State Education Secretaries and other state officials. The Ministry
had constituted a Committee for Evolution of the New Education Policy, which
submitted its report in May 2016. Thereafter the Ministry has formulated ‘Some Inputs for the Draft
National Education Policy, 2016’ on which comments/suggestions were invited from the Government of India Ministries, State
Government, Hon’ble Members of Parliament and other stakeholders up to 30th
September, 2016.
‘Education
Dialogue’ organized with the Hon’ble MPs of both Houses of the Parliament on 10th
November 2016 in Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi
Several
suggestions, views, comments and inputs have been received from different
cross-sections of stakeholders. An ‘Education Dialogue’ was also organized with
the Hon’ble MPs to discuss the suggestions and to elicit their views. A
Committee under an eminent educationist is being contemplated to prepare final
draft NEP.
Approval for New
Institutes:
·
Several
new institutions have been started during the year: (6) new IITs, (7) new IIMs,
(1) new NIT, (2) new IISERs, (8) new IIITs are all fully operationalised. The
(4) Central Universities would start functioning shortly.
·
A
scheme to establish twenty new Indian Institutes of Information Technology
(IIITs), on a Not-for-profit Public Private Partnership (N-PPP) basis has been
approved by the Cabinet on 07.12.2016. The Ministry had already approved 19 out
of 20 IIITs. Approval for setting up of a new IIIT in PPP mode in the state of
Bihar has been given on 11th November 2016.
·
The
Cabinet approved setting up and operationalisation of IIM Jammu from its
temporary campus on 13th October 2016. A total of Rs. 61.90 crore
has been allocated for IIM Jammu for an initial period of 4 years.
Global Initiative of Academic
Networks (GIAN)
GIAN
is aimed at tapping the talent pool of scientists
and entrepreneurs, internationally to encourage their engagement with the
institutes of Higher Education in India so as to augment the country's existing
academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India's
scientific and technological capacity to global excellence.
Under
the scheme of Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in Higher Education
so far, (780) courses have been approved, of which (503) courses have been
completed. This is the biggest ever collaboration with the foreign academics in
the Country in a period of one year.
Impacting
Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India
IMPRINT
INDIA is a Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a roadmap for
research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in ten technology
domains relevant to India. IMPRINT INDIA aims at direct research in
the premier institutions into areas of social relevance.
Under this, 10
domains have been identified which could substantially impact the living
standards of the rural areas: (1) Health care
technology, (2) Energy security, (3) Rural urban housing
design, (4) Nano technology, (5) Water/river system, (6) Advanced materials,
(7) Computer science and ICT, (8) Manufacturing technology, (9) Advanced
security and (10) Environment/climate change.
The research in
each of these areas is being coordinated by one IIT. More than 2600 research
proposals have been submitted by scientists in the the priority area of these domains.
These have been examined by eminent scientists and 892 proposals have been
shortlisted for consideration. http://imprint-india.org/
and 259 proposals for Rs. 595.89 Cr have been
approved for implementation.
Uchchtar Aavishkar Abhiyaan
The
Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) was launched to promote industry-specific
need-based research so as to keep up the competitiveness of the Indian industry
in the global market. All the IITs have been encouraged to work with the
industry to identify areas where innovation is required and come up with
solutions that could be brought up to the commercialization level. Under the
UAY, it is proposed to invest Rs. 250 crores every year on identified projects
proposed by IITs, provided the Industry contributes 25% of the project cost.
For the year 2016-17, (92) projects for Rs. 285.15 Cr have been approved for
implementation.
Measures for promoting quality in Education – National Institutional Ranking Framework
The
first ever ‘India Rankings 2016’ have been announced on 4th April
2016. In the very first year of its operation, more than 3,500 institutions
have participated in the ranking exercise. This is a great beginning
considering that established agencies like QS work with data from about 1,000
institutions annually. Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched
national Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) on 29th September
2015. Under this system, institutions of higher education would be annually
ranked based on objective and verifiable criteria.
|
The
NIRF would allow ranking based on credible and verified data while capturing
the major performance parameters. Participation in the NIRF would help the
Indian educational institutions participate in the world rankings with greater
confidence. The ranks were released in the four
categories of institutions mainly, universities, engineering, management and
pharmacy. There has been a good response for the initiative: 5000 institutions
registered, of which 3640 logged in complete data through and self reporting
exercise. The India Rankings 2016, released on 4th April 2016, is
one of the biggest efforts for brining in accountability and transparency in
the higher educational institutions (https://www.nirfindia.org). The effort has continued into the second edition with improvised
metrics and the India Rankings-2017 would be declared on 3rd April
2017.
Establishment
of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) for creating capital assets in
Higher Educational Institutions.
The Cabinet has considered and approved the
proposal of establishment of HEFA in its meeting dated 12th
September 2016. In order to give a big push for building up robust higher
educational institutions, the Cabinet has approved creation of the Higher
Education Financing Agency (HEFA) with Government equity of Rs. 1,000 Cr. The
creation of HEFA will enable major investments for creation of high quality
infrastructure in premier educational institutions. The HEFA would be formed as
a SPV within a PSU Bank/Government-owned-NBFC (Promoter). It would leverage the
equity to raise up to Rs. 20,000 Cr for funding projects for infrastructure and
development of world class Labs in IITs/IIMs/NITs and such other institutions.
The HEFA would finance
the academic and research infrastructure projects through a 10-yr loan. The
principal portion of the loan will be repaid through the ‘internal accruals’ of
the institutions. The Govt would service the interest portion through the
regular Plan assistance.
All the
Centrally Funded Higher Educational Institutions would be eligible for joining
as members of the HEFA. For joining as members, the Institution should agree to
escrow a specific amount from their internal accruals to HEFA for a period of
10 years. This secured future flows would be securitised by the HEFA for
mobilising the funds from the market. Each member institution would be eligible
for a credit limit as decided by HEFA based on the amount agreed to be escrowed
from the internal accruals.
The HEFA would
be jointly promoted by the identified Promoter and the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD) with an authorized capital of Rs.2,000 crore. The
Government equity would be Rs.1,000 crore. The HEFA would also mobilize CSR
funds from PSUs/Corporates, which would in turn be released for promoting research
and innovation in these institutions on grant basis.
Government of
India has appointed M/S Canara Bank as Promoter for the HEFA and it is expected
that the HEFA’s operations would begin by April 2017.
National Academic Depository
In pursuance
with Government's vision of Digital India and Commitment in the Budget Speech
of 2016-17, to establish a Digital Depository for school learning certificates,
degrees and other academic awards of Higher Education Institutions, on the
pattern of a Securities Depository, Union Cabinet accorded its approval for
establishment and operationalisation of a National Academic Depository (NAD) on
27th October 2016.
The NAD would
help in validating the authenticity of these awards and ensuring their safe storage
and easy retrieval. Maintaining academic awards in a digital depository would
provide benefit to educational institutions, students and employers by enabling
online access and retrieval; eliminate fraudulent practices such as forging of
certificates and mark-sheets and facilitate validation. NAD would be available
online 24X7 access to the stakeholders.
NAD shall
maintain the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of its database. It
will also train and facilitate academic institutions/boards/ eligibility
assessment bodies to efficiently lodge academic awards in the database.
The NAD would be rolled out throughout
the country in 2017-18. The NAD is operationalised by NSDL Database Management
Limited (NDML) and CDSL Ventures, Limited (CVL) - two of the wholly owned
subsidiaries of the Depositories registered under Securities Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) Act, 1992.
UGC Initiatives
Women Candidates and Persons with Disability (more than 40%
disability) may be allowed a relaxation of one year for M.Phil and two years
for Ph.D. In addition, women candidates may be provided Maternity
Leave/Child Care Leave once in the entire duration of M.Phil/Ph.D. for up to
240 days.
In case of relocation of an M.Phil/Ph.D. woman scholar
due to marriage or otherwise, research data shall be allowed to be transferred
to the University to which the scholar intends to relocate provided a) all
other conditions in these regulations are followed and b) the research work
does not pertain to a project secured by the parent institution/ supervisor
from any funding agency. The scholar will give credit to the parent guide and
institution for the part of research already done.
UGC has also notified UGC
(Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational institutions) Regulations, 2012,
which inter alia provides as under:
Every higher educational institution shall take appropriate measures to -
a. Safeguard the interests of the students without any prejudice to their caste creed religion, language, ethnicity, gender and disability.
b. Eliminate discrimination against or harassment of any student in all forms in higher educational institutions by prohibiting it and by providing for preventive and protective measures to facilitate its eradication and punishments for those who indulge in any form of discrimination or harassment.
c. Promote equality among students of all sections of the society.
Every higher educational institution shall take appropriate measures to -
a. Safeguard the interests of the students without any prejudice to their caste creed religion, language, ethnicity, gender and disability.
b. Eliminate discrimination against or harassment of any student in all forms in higher educational institutions by prohibiting it and by providing for preventive and protective measures to facilitate its eradication and punishments for those who indulge in any form of discrimination or harassment.
c. Promote equality among students of all sections of the society.
Restructuring of
IIT Fee
Keeping in view the
interests of the students, annual fee for IITs is capped to 2 lakh. This is
subject to following safeguards for protecting the interests of the socially
and economically backward students:
Ø
The SC/ST/Differently abled students shall
get complete fee waiver.
Ø
The most economically backward students
(whose family income is less than Rs.1 lakh per annum) shall get full
remission of the fee.
Ø
The other economically backward students
(whose family income is between Rs.1 lakh to Rs.5 lakh per annum) shall get remission
of 2/3rd of the fee.
Ø All students shall have access to interest free loan
under the ‘Vidya Lakshmi Scheme’ for the total portion of the tuition fee
payable.
The report of the Committee on funding of IITs and the
recommendations of SCIC for revision of annual fee in IITs based on the
rationale arising from the fact that the cost of maintenance of the IITs is to
be met largely from the student fee. On an average, the Government is spending
about Rs 6 lakh per year on each student in the IITs.
Prime Minister’s
Special Scholarship Scheme
Ø Special
Scholarship Scheme for J & K students continued in the sixth year with few major
modifications to streamline the processes and bring effectiveness to the scheme
with ease of operation.
Ø Supernumerary
seats in engineering program increased from 2 to 10 per college with 2 seats
per stream so as to have enough friends from J and K in the campus.
Ø Awareness about
the scheme was created through 10 workshops in J and K including remotest parts
of J & K.
Ø In 2016-17,
total of 3795 number of students were allotted seats through PM’s special
scholarships scheme out of which 2235 are from Engineering, 177 from medical
and 1084 from General (B.A., B.Sc. etc.).
Ø So far 2209
students have uploaded their joining reports, 1600 students have submitted
their scholarship claims online and 1300 students have been paid their scholarships
through a newly designed user friendly online portal.
Ø Plans of having
a nodal officer/coordinator/mentor from each college where students of J and K
have been allotted and organising training of these officers in counseling is
underway
SWAYAM
PRABHA
·
The SWAYAM PRABHA has been conceived as the project for telecasting high
quality educational programmes through 32 DTH channels on 24X7 basis. Every
day, there will be new content of at least (4) hours which would be repeated 6
times a day, allowing the student to choose the time of his convenience.
·
The DTH Channels will cover: -
(a) Curriculum
based course contents covering diverse disciplines such as arts, science,
commerce, performing arts, social sciences and humanities subjects,
engineering, technology, law, medicine, agriculture etc. in higher education
domain (all courses would be certification-ready in their detailed offering).
(b) School
education (9-12 levels) modules; for teacher training as well as teaching and
learning aids to children of India to help them understand the subjects better
and also help them in better preparedness for competitive examinations for
admissions to professional degree programmes.
(c) Curricula
and courses that can meet the needs of life-long learners or Indian citizens in
India and abroad.
(d) IIT-PAL
- to assist the students in the Classes 11 and 12 aspiring to join IITs by
encouraging scientific thinking and conceptual understanding critical to answer
the 'tough' questions of JEE Advanced, so that good quality students enter the
portals of IITs. The four channels under this would be on Mathematics, Physics,
Chemistry and Biology.
SWAYAM
· SWAYAM
is an indigenous (Made in India) IT Platform for hosting the Massive Open
Online Courses (MOOCs) with a capacity to revolutionize the education system by
providing best quality education covering all the subjects and courses being
taught in the high schools, colleges and universities in the Country using the
IT system to the students even in the remotest corner of the Country.
·
SWAYAM would provide High quality learning experience-using multimedia
on anytime, anywhere basis and provide one-stop web location for interactive
e-content for all courses from School to University level.
·
M/S Microsoft has been entrusted with the responsibility for creating
the IT platform. Beta (β) Version of SWAYAM Portal has been launched on
15.08.2016.
·
For creation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), 8 National MOOCs
Coordinators (NMCs) have been appointed with the responsibility to identify the
best teachers for preparation of the material for the MOOCs. Total 262 Online
Courses has been repurposed in SWAYAM format by NMCs till November 2016
·
University Grants Commission (UGC) has vide Gazette Notification dated
19th July, 2016, notified Regulation, 2016 regarding ‘Credit
Framework for Online Learning Courses through SWAYAM’. Accordingly, a student
studying at a recognized institute anywhere in the country and having cleared
the Online Course through SWAYAM, shall be awarded Credits and the credits
earned by such a student shall be transferred from the Host Institute to the
Parent Institute where the student is studying. However at present, such
students through online learning delivered on SWAYAM platform can earn the
Credits only up to 20% of the total courses in a Semester.
·
This would allow any student in the country to take the courses offered
by the best teachers on SWAYAM, thereby bridging the academic deficit
experienced in the backward areas thereby, raising the overall standards of
higher education in the country.
The
status of preparation of the online learning courses is as follows:
|
National MOOCs
coordinator
|
e-Content
Courses Completed as on
Date.
|
Courses to be repurposed in MOOCs Format by 31st
July 2016.
|
Courses to be repurposed in MOOCs Format by from 1.8.16 to 31.12.16
|
Total Courses.
|
|
NPTEL
|
900
|
120
|
123
|
243
|
|
CEC
|
215
|
25
|
125
|
150
|
|
UGC
|
160
|
68
|
68
|
136
|
|
IGNOU
|
-
|
71
|
71
|
142
|
|
NCERT
|
-
|
24
|
24
|
48
|
|
NIOS
|
-
|
15
|
15
|
30
|
|
Total
|
1275
|
323
|
426
|
749
|
NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY
·
A Project titled “Development of National
Digital Library
of India, towards building a National Asset”
has been sanctioned to IIT, Kharagpur under NMEICT.
·
The objective is to provide access to the knowledge repository in terms
of books, e-learning material, encyclopedia, journals, monographs, reviews,
research work, articles, Acts and other knowledge material etc. for the benefit
of learners/professionals/scholars and other interested people especially
located at as also to overcome the constraints of time and also finances.
·
Till November, 2016, there are 19.75 lakh e-contents in the Library. The
contents cover almost all major domains of education and all major levels of
learners from school level to the highest level of education including
life-long learners. 106 institutions have contributed e-contents to the Library
and users from 465 institutions have been registered in the Library.
·
The alpha version is now publicly available for registered students,
faculty, researcher, officials, etc. The facility has been extended to 3.32
lakh students across all the Centrally Funded Institutions and some other State
Funded institutions. Till now contents of 48 languages, including Indian as
well as non-Indian languages, have been included in the Library.
CONNECTIVITY
·
Establishment of 1 GBPS Connectivity to universities and 20 numbers of
512 Kbps broadband connectivity to colleges has been provisioned under NMEICT.
A total of 403 Universities have been connected through 1 Gbps Optical Fiber;
22026 Colleges have so far been connected with 10 Mbps bandwidth.
·
Ministry of HRD is in the process of
providing 1Gbps connectivity to the Universities that are funded fully
or partly by Center, State Universities and Private & Deemed Universities
with NAAC accreditation that have consented for sharing of 25% cost.
·
On the lines of ‘Digital India’ initiative
of the PMO, the MHRD has now decided that the campuses of Universities, (having
1 Gbps bandwidth) shall be provided ‘Campus Connect’ i.e., Wi Fi enabled
campus. In the initial stage ‘Campus Connect’ shall be provided at all Central
Universities. The WiFi project would be implemented on a OPEX model through M/S
RailTel. It is expected that all the Central Universities would be provided
WiFi facilities through OPEX model by end of April 2017.
BHUVAN
- RUSA PORTAL
The National Remote Sensing Centre
(NRSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a mobile
application for uploading geo-tagged photographs and associated details
captured by the educational institutions, on Bhuvan-RUSA portal as a part of
implementation of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) funded works.
This application for geo-tagging of institutions under RUSA is a location based
service.
The total number of points of RUSA
funded works that have been geo tagged by the higher educational institutions
till date is 4176 in 32 States/UTs. These points are reviewed at the State
level and the National Mission Directorate for acceptance.
The mobile geo tagging App of RUSA
covers the following attributes: construction work or equipment, institution
name, new or upgraded work, type of work, current stage of work, percentage
completed, completion date, bank name, account number, amount released and
amount utilized.
DIGITAL
ISBN
The Hon'ble Minister of
Human Resource Development has launched ISBN portal on 7th April, 2016
to facilitate authors and publishers to register ISBN online. The manual system
has been replaced with the interactive portal which would overcome the problems
like delayed response, difficulty in registration, lost documents etc. and
ensure ease of registration, enhanced accessibility, wider transparency, trust
and credibility and greater efficiency for allotment of ISBN to authors and
publishers.
The Raja Rammohun National Agency for
ISBN under the Ministry of Human Resource Development through the ISBN portal
aims to streamline the entire process and makes it user friendly.
All India Survey
on Higher Education (AISHE)
It covers all the
Institutions in the country engaged in imparting of higher education. Data is
being collected on several parameters such as teachers, student enrolment,
programmes, examination results, education finance and infrastructure.
Indicators of educational development such as Institution Density, Gross
Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, Per Student Expenditure
will also be calculated from the data collected through AISHE. These are useful
in making informed policy decisions and research for development of education
sector.
AISHE 2015-16 has been completed &
survey for the year 2016-17 has been launched on 13th December, 2016
and a time-lag of four month to fill required data for higher education has
been given to upload the data online form Universities, Colleges &
Stand-alone institutions.
Vittiya
Saksharata Abhiyan (VISAKA)
Pursuant to the Honorable Prime
Minister’s appeal to youth in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ for creating awareness among
people about digital economy and cashless modes of transactions, Union Minister
for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched ‘Vittiya
Saksharata Abhiyan’ on 1st December 2016.
The purpose of the `Vittiya
Saksharta Abhiyan’ is to actively engage the youth/ students of
Higher Education Institutions to encourage and motivate all payers and payees
to use a digitally enabled cashless economic system for transfer of funds.
Ministry of Human Resource Development views the institutions of higher
education in the country, faculty members and students to take the lead and act
as engines of this transformational shift.
The Union HRD
Minister launched a webpage where students can
register themselves, give continuous feedback and suggestions on the initiative
as well as upload the progress of their work. More than 1.70 lakh volunteers
have registered for Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan (VISAKA) by December 2016.
National
Initiative for Design Innovation
Open Design School: ODS would ensure
maximum reach of design education and practice in the country
through various collaborative education programmes (linking a broad spectrum of
educational institutes), and free sharing of its courseware through the
internet. The proposal for setting up of ODS was approved in the Sixth PAB held
on 2nd September 2016.
National Design Innovation Network: - NDIN would
be a network of design schools that work closely with other leading
institutions of industry and academia, NGOs and government to further reach and
access of design education, to promote design innovation in all sectors, and to
develop wide ranging collaborative projects between institutions. The proposal
for setting up of NDIN was approved in the Sixth PAB held on 2nd
September 2016.
Design Innovation Centres are also
running various courses and workshops to support the students and help them
achieve their goals. The scheme has also provided employment and is a platform
for students to demonstrate their capabilities.
DIC status till December,
2016: - Seventeen DIC‘s has been established so far out of which
one DIC, that is NEHU, Shillong was approved in the Sixth PAB held on 2nd
September, 2016. The already established DIC’s are as follows: -
IIT
Mumbai, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IISc Bangalore, University of Delhi, IIT
Bhubaneshwar, IIT BHU, University of Rajasthan, Savitribai Phule Pune
University, Rani Durgawati University, SPA, Delhi, IIT Kanpur, Panjab
University, JNTU Kakinada, IIT Hyderabad and IIT Hyderabad and NEHU, Shillong.
Technical
Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP)
Initiation of
the Third Phase of of TEQIP has been approved by Cabinet on 12th
September 2016. The Project will be implemented as a 'Central Sector Scheme' with
total project outlay of Rs. 3600 crore. However, the project would be initiated
with a cost of Rs. 2660 crore, with the possibility of additional financing of
Rs. 940 crore at later stage. Out of the Rs.2660 crore, the Central share will
be Rs.1330 crore and external assistance from the World Bank through
International Development Association (IDA) Credit of Rs. 1330 crore
Institutions
in the central, eastern and north-eastern region and hill States are at present
in need of similar and specific interventions. The Focus States are 7 Low
Income States (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh), 3 Hill States (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and
Uttarakhand), 8 North-Eastern States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura) and Union Territory of Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. The initiation and implementation of the project TEQIP-III
will bridge this gap.
The major outcomes of the project are: 1) Better
academic standards, through accreditation, filling up faculty positions,
training faculty in better teaching methods, improved research outputs in
institution in Focus States/UTs. 2) Better administration of the institutions
with improved financial/academic autonomy. 3) Better systems for assessment of
Student Learning, higher transition rates. 4) Transparent and expeditious
release of funds to institutes by way of Direct Funds Transfer (DFT) System.
International
Collaborations and Partnerships:
`1st
Meeting of the BRICS Network University IGB
Indian
Delegation visited Ekaterinburg, Russia for the 1st meeting of the
International Governing Board (IGB) of the BRICS Network University (NU) from
6-8 April, 2016, to draft regulations/ statute for the functioning of the BRICS
Network University.
2nd
Meeting of the BRICS Network University IGB
The 2nd
meeting of the International Governing Board (IGB) of the BRICS Network
University (NU) has taken place at IIT Bombay on 27th September,
2016. As there is no participation from the Chinese side in the meeting,
nothing concrete has been arrived upon as far as the regulations and statute
are concerned.
Signing of ‘New
Delhi Declaration’ at 4th BRICS Education Ministers Meeting
The 4th
BRICS Education Ministers Meeting (EMM) took place in New Delhi on 30th
September, 2016. It was preceded by a BRICS Senior Officials Meeting on
Education on 29th September, 2016. New Delhi Declaration on
Education was signed during the 4th BRICS Education Ministers Meeting.
B)
International Conference on the Zero:
The Permanent
Delegation of India to UNESCO, Paris together with the Pierre and Marie Curie
University, Paris and with the support of the Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India, hosted an International Conference on the
Zero on 4-5th April, 2016 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. This was an
effective projection of India’s soft power, showcasing our rich and remarkable
heritage in Mathematics. The crowning moment was the unveiling of Aryabhata’s
bust by Hon’ble HRM and Director General of UNESCO, which now adorns the
entrance of UNESCO.
C)
SAARC Technical Meeting of Senior Officials on Education:
Ministry of
Human Resource Development, Government of India, in collaboration with SAARC
Secretariat, held SAARC Technical Meeting of Senior Officials on Education on
15-16th September, 2016 in New Delhi as a follow-up of the 2nd
meeting of SAARC Education Ministers held on 31st October, 2014 with
a purpose to prepare detailed work plan for joint activities over the coming
five years. The Delegates from all the SAARC Countries and SAARC Secretariat
participated in the meeting.
D)
ADDENDUM X to the MoU between Government of India and Shastri Indo-Canadian
Institute (SICI):
Ministry of
Human Resource Development, Government of India and Shastri Indo-Canadian
Institute (SICI) have signed on 15th July, 2016 an ADDENDUM X to the Memorandum
of Understanding for a period of five years i.e. from 1st April, 2016 to 31st
March, 2021 after obtaining approval of the Union Cabinet in its meeting held
on 29th June, 2016. Extension of MoU will facilitate SICI to continue with
promotion of knowledge and understanding between Canada and India in the areas
identified through facilitation of academic exchanges between the two
countries.
E)
50th Anniversary of International Literacy Day at UNESCO Head
Quarters:
UNESCO organized
the 50th Anniversary of International Literacy Day at its
Headquarters in Paris on 8-9th September, 2016 on the theme ‘Reading the past,
writing the future’. On the invitation of Director-General, UNESCO, Sh. Upendra
Kushwaha, Hon’ble Minister of State for Human Resource Development participated
in the global event. The main objectives of this global event were to review
the achievements and lessons learnt over 50 years of engagement towards more
literate societies and to identify the multi-faceted challenges in literacy and
ways to address them, in the framework of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable
Development, considering equity, inclusion, quality and gender dimensions.
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