Parliament Question: Access to Quality Education

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-5954 ANSWERED ON –30/03/2026 Access to Quality Education 5954. Shri N K Premachandran: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has initiated any action to improve the quality of education in the country, if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government proposes to ensure access to quality education for students in rural areas, low income families and marginalized communities and if so, the details of action taken in this regard; (c) whether the Government has initiated any action to prevent dropouts from schools due to poverty, child labour etc. and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether the Government has initiated any action to provide basic facilities like toilets, clean drinking water, electricity, library and laboratories in all schools in the country, if so, the details thereof; (e) whether the Government initiated any action to increase the Government funding for infrastructure development and if so, the details thereof; (f) whether the Government has initiated any action to recruit more qualified teachers, if so, the details thereof; and (g) the details of initiatives taken by the Government to update the curriculum? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a)to(c): The Department of School Education & Literacy is implementing an integrated scheme for school education - Samagra Shiksha, which covers the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII. The scheme treats school education as a continuum and has been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for undertaking various activities for universalization of school education, including opening/strengthening of new schools upto senior secondary level, construction of school buildings & additional classrooms, development/strengthening of school infrastructure in border areas under Vibrant Village Programme through the convergence of existing scheme of DOSE&L, setting up, construction of hostels for PVTGs under PM-JANMAN, setting up of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, construction of hostels under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for unsaturated ST population, free uniforms to eligible children and free text books at elementary level, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment & retention drives. Special training for age- appropriate admission of out of school children and residential as well as non-residential training for older children, seasonal hostels / residential camps, special training centers at worksites, transport/ escort facility etc. are also supported to bring out of school children to the formal schooling system. Samagra Shiksha focuses on improvement of quality of education by providing support for different interventions to all States and UTs, like in-service training of teachers and school heads, conduct of achievement surveys at state and national level, composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for library, sports and physical activities, support for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, support of Tinkering Labs, ICT and digital initiatives, School Leadership development programme, remedial teaching for academically weaker students, introduction of new pedagogical and curricular structure, Early Childhood Care and Education, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and Transforming Assessment for Student Development, Experiential and Competency based Learning etc. Further, under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Yojna, one hot cooked meal is provided to the students at elementary level (including Balvatika) in Government and Government-aided schools. Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) schools are being set up as NEP 2020 exemplar schools and are expected to become the template for other schools. However, Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the administrative domain of the respective State/UT Government which are the appropriate Government under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. (d)&(e): The Central Government provides financial assistance to States/UTs under the Centrally sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha for strengthening of existing government schools for creation and augmentation of infrastructure facilities like toilets, clean drinking water, electricity, library and laboratories based on Annual Work Plan & budget(AWP&B) proposals prepared by them as per their needs and priority and gaps determined from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) database. These plans are then appraised and approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in the Department of School Education and Literacy in consultation with the State/UT as per the programmatic and financial norms of the scheme, physical and financial progress of works sanctioned earlier and availability of budgetary resources.(f): Matters relating to recruitment, service conditions and deployment of teachers fall within administrative domain of the concerned States/UTs. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, States/UTs are supported in undertaking rational and transparent deployment of teacher, including through online systems, to ensure equitable availability of teachers in rural and underserved areas. States/UTs are also encouraged to adopt school complex/cluster-based approaches and teacher-sharing mechanisms to address localised shortages. Further, under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs to maintain appropriate Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) for various levels of schooling, as per norms prescribed in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, as amended from time to time. (g): In alignment with NEP 2020, NCERT has developed the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 after detailed consultation with the States/UTs and other relevant stakeholders. NCF-SE 2023 is a self-explanatory document. Since education is in the concurrent list, States/UTs have been implementing NCF-SE 2023 and have the flexibility to adopt or adapt the recommendations of NEP 2020 in accordance with their specific contextual needs and priorities. *****