Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the school education programme Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0 till the 2025-26 financial year.
- It has been upgraded to align it with the Sustainable Development Goal for Education and the new National Education Policy launched in 2020.
About 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.
About 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.
