Key Initiatives in Education

Introduction:

• The Government of India initiated the process of formulating a New Education Policy. It aims to meet the changing dynamics of the requirements of the population with regard to quality education, innovation and research to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge.
• Also, to eliminate the shortage of manpower in science, technology, academics and industry.

Key Reforms in School Education

NISHTHA:

• A National Mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level through an Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA - National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement was launched. This integrated programme aims to build the capacities of around 42 lakh teachers and heads of schools, faculty members of SCERTs and DIETs, Block Resource Coordinators and Cluster Resource Coordinators.
• The initiative is first of its kind wherein standardised training modules are developed at national level for all states and UTs. However, states and UTs can contextualise the training modules and use their own material and resource persons also, keeping in view the core topics and expected outcomes of NISHTHA.

DHRUV:

• The Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Program (DHRUV) was launched to identify and encourage talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge.
• The Programme 'DHRUV will act as a platform to explore the talent of outshining and meritorious students, and help them achieve excellence in their specific areas of interest may it be science, performing arts, creative writing, etc. These talented students apart from realising their full potential are expected to contribute to society in a big way.

Shagun:

• One of world's largest Integrated Online Junction for – School Education ‘Shagun’ is an overarching initiative to improve school education system by creating a junction for all online portals and websites relating to various activities of the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Government of India and all States and Union Territories.
• About 1200 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 600 Navodaya Vidyalayas, around 20000 CBSE affiliated schools, 30 SCERTs, 19000 organisations affiliated with NCTE among others are integrated with Shagun. Report cards of 15 lakh schools all over the country will be available on the newly created junction.
• The portal seeks to connect approximately 92 lakh teachers and 26 crore students. Common people can directly give their feedback about schools which will further increase the public participation and will ensure accountability and transparency.

Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+):

• To ensure quality, credibility and timely availability of information from all the schools in the county the revamped UDISE has been launched. The GIS based mapping portal gives information about the location of more than 15 lakh schools in the country along with some salient highlights. The Data Analytics portal gives information about the aggregate position of the school.

Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSIIA) 2.0:

• DIKSHA Portal was launched in 2017 for providing digital platforms to teachers giving them an opportunity to learn and train themselves and connect with the teacher community. This initiative has been taken forward to enhance coverage and improve the quality of e-content for teachers.
• Till date, more than 67000 content pieces have been hosted on DIKSHA and more than 10.5 crore scans have been affected.

Operation Digital Board (ODB):

• The aim is to provide by March 2023, two smart classrooms for every Secondary/Senior Secondary schools in 1,01,967 Government and 42,917 aided schools in all States/UTs and 1704 KVs and N Vs making a total of 1 ,46,.5S8 schools.

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Key Reforms in Higher Education Five-year vision plan:

‘Education Quality Up gradation and Inclusion Programmed’ (EQUIP):

• The Department of Higher Education of MHRD has released a five-year vision plan named ‘Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP).
• This report sets out to deliver further on principles of access, inclusion, quality, excellence and enhancing employability in Higher Education.
• EQUIP is a vision plan aiming at ushering transformation in India's higher education system by implementing strategic interventions in the sector over five years (2019-2024).
• EQUIP has been prepared based on reports of 10 expert groups constituted to deliberate upon important aspects of Higher Education.

Institution of Eminence (IoE):

• Ten institutions in the public sector and 10 institutions in the private sector have to be declared as IoE. Each public institute (IoE) will be eligible to receive Rs. 1000 crore during the next 5 years.

SWAYAM 2.0:

• SWAYAM 2.0 is initiated with enhanced features and facilities to offer online degree programmes through SWAYAM by top ranking universities. SWAYAM PRABHA- DTH Educational Channels It is a project to telecast high quality educational programs through 32 DTH channels on 24x7 basis to reach out to student/learners of India with wide reach and minimal cost.
• It aims to support those students who do not have good learning options like lack of teacher or internet etc. It also aims to provide dedicated channels ‘IITPAL’ to assist the students of XI and XII standards aspiring to join premier educational institutions in the country.

Implementation of Quality Improvement Programme:

• Deeksharambh: A guide to Student Induction Programme has been launched. Total 319 HEIs have implemented the Student Induction Programme.
• Learning outcomes based curriculum framework (LOCF) revision: New curriculum in 16 subjects which is based on LOCF has been uploaded on UGC website to facilitate universities to revise the curriculum.
• Use of ICT based learning tools for effective teaching learning process: 125 universities have come on board for accepting credit transfer done through SWAYAM platform.
• Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India's Developing Economy (STRIDE): Launched for promoting quality research by faculty and creation of new knowledge.
• PARAMARSH: A scheme to mentor institutions seeking National Assessment and Accreditation Council accreditation.

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