The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to frame a new Integrated Scheme for School Education from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2020.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sanctioned the proposal of the Department of School Education and Literacy to frame the scheme by merging the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for elementary school (Classes 1 to 8), the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan for secondary school (Classes 9 and 10) and the centrally-sponsored Scheme for Restructuring and Reorganisation of Teachers’ Education.
The government has allocated roughly Rs 75,000 crore for the two-year scheme, 20% higher than the funds earmarked for the three programmes merged.
The move comes in the backdrop of Modi’s “Sabko Shiksha, Achhi Shiksha” proposal, aiming to help state enable universal access to school education from kindergarten to Class 12. The Cabinet said the aims of the scheme were in line with the Sustainable Development Goal for Education.
“The main emphasis of the integrated scheme is on improving quality of school education by focusing on the two Ts – Teacher and Technology,” the government said. “The scheme gives flexibility to states and Union Territories to plan and prioritise their interventions within the scheme norms and the overall resource envelope available to them.”
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