Samagra Shiksha Scheme to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education

The Department of School Education and Literacy has formulated the Samagra Shiksha – an Integrated Scheme for School Education as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and it is being implemented throughout the country with effect from the year 2018-19. This programme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). It is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.   It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels. 

The major interventions, across all levels of school education, under the scheme, are: (i) Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Gender and Equity; (iii) Inclusive Education; (iv) Quality; (v) Financial support for Teacher Salary;  (vi) Digital initiatives; (vii) Entitlements under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 including uniforms, textbooks etc.;(viii) Pre-school Education; (ix) Vocational Education; (x) Sports and Physical Education; (xi) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training; (xii) Monitoring and (xiii) Programme Management. The main emphasis of the Scheme is on improving the quality of school education and the strategy for all interventions would be to enhance the Learning Outcomes at all levels of schooling.

An allocation of Rs 75,000 crore over the period 1^st April 2018 to 31^st March 2020 has been approved which is a 20% increase over the current allocations. It sees school education holistically without segmenting it into various levels of education. Its main features, inter alia,  are as follows:

1. Annual Grant of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000/- per school for the strengthening of Libraries.
2. Composite school grant increased from Rs. 14,500-50,000 to Rs. 25,000-1 Lakh and to be allocated on the basis of school enrolment.
3. Annual Grant for sports equipment at the cost of Rs. 5000 for Primary Schools, Rs. 10,000 for upper primary schools and up to Rs. 25,000 for secondary and senior secondary schools.
4. Allocation for children with Special Needs (CwSN) increased from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 3,500 per child per annum including a stipend of Rs. 200 per month for CWSN girls to be provided from Classes I to XII. – earlier it was only for classes IX to XII.
5. Allocation for uniforms enhanced from Rs. 400 to Rs. 600 per child per annum.
6. Allocation for textbooks enhanced from Rs. 150/250 to Rs. 250/400 per child per annum.
7. Upgradation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) from Class 6-8 to Class 6-12.
8. Strengthening Teacher Education Institutions like SCERTs and DIETs to improve the quality of teachers with SCERT as the nodal institution for in-service and pre-service teacher training
9. Enhanced use of digital technology in education through smart classrooms, digital boards, and DTH channels.

This information was given by the Minister of State (HRD), Shri Upendra Kushwaha on 19th July 2018 in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.

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More details on Samagra Shiksha Scheme can be found here.

Images courtesy – Samagra Shiksha Website