Report on Haryana Government Schools | 20 May 2024

Why in News?

A recent government report revealed that 19 schools in the state are without any students, 811 schools have just one teacher, and a total of 3,148 schools have less than half of their student capacity filled.

Key Points

  • The report, which outlined key points from a meeting held by the Union education ministry’s project approval board in February 2024, pinpointed 14,562 government schools in the state.
  • The report highlighted the insufficient number of teachers, particularly in elementary schools, and advised the government to promptly fill these vacancies.
    • The shortage of teachers has impacted the central funding allocated for salary payments.
    • In the primary sector, the financial assistance has decreased to Rs 14 lakh from Rs 19 lakh in the 2021-22 period.
    • Similarly, in higher education, grants have dropped from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 14 lakh due to several unfilled positions.
  • Apart from the shortage of teachers, the report also pointed to lack of basic infrastructure for students in these schools.
    • While the schools are 18% short of their target for additional classrooms, toilets for boys and girls are 1% and 1.8% fewer than what they should be. Smart classrooms are also 1.4% behind the required number.
  • The report emphasized that non-recurring approvals from the past, which have not been addressed by the state for years, will eventually become the state's sole responsibility after a period of 5 years according to the Samagra Shiksha framework.
  • Schools that have not set up facilities must withdraw their initial proposals and think about submitting new ones.
    • The state government has been directed to regularly update the progress of pending tasks on the Prabandh portal to avoid any errors in the data presented.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme

  • It is an integrated scheme for school education covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII.
  • It aims to deliver inclusive, equitable, and affordable school education.
  • It subsumes the three Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).
  • The scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Govt. and Aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level).
  • It is being implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme. It involves a 60:40 split in funding between the Centre and most States. It was launched by the Ministry of Education in 2018.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0

  • Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):
    • In order to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child-centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT-based platform over a period of time.
    • This DBT would include RTE (Right to Education) entitlements such as textbooks, uniforms and transport allowance.
  • On NEP Recommendations:
    • Encouraging Indian languages:
      • It has a new component for appointment of language teachers, which includes salaries, and training costs as well as bilingual books and teaching learning material as recommended in NEP.
    • Pre-primary Education:
      • It will now include funding to support pre-primary sections at government schools, i.e. for teaching and learning materials, indigenous toys and games and play-based activities.
      • Master trainers for pre-primary teachers and anganwadi workers will be supported under the scheme.
    • NIPUN Bharat Initiative:
      • Under this initiative, an annual provision of Rs. 500 per child for learning materials, Rs. 150 per teacher for manuals and resources and Rs. 10-20 lakh per district will be given for assessment for foundational literacy and numeracy.
    • On Digital Initiatives:
      • There is a provision for ICT labs and smart classrooms, including support for digital boards, virtual classrooms and DTH channels which have become more important in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • For out-of-school children:
      • It includes a provision to support out of school children from age 16 to 19 with funding of Rs. 2000 per grade to complete their education via open schooling.
      • There will also be a greater focus on skills and vocational education, both for students in school and dropouts.