Parliament Question: Better Educational Opportunities for Students in Amroha

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 32 ANSWERED ON- 02/02/2026 Better Educational Opportunities for Students in Amroha †*32 Shri Kanwar Singh Tanwar: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes targeted interventions to strengthen the quality of school education and learning outcomes in Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, particularly for students of rural areas facing challenges such as lack of digital access, unavailability of adequate subject teachers, learning gaps in science/mathematics and lack of guidance for competitive examinations in order to ensure better educational opportunities for the students of the said district; (b) if so, the details of actions proposed to be taken by the Government with regard to improvement of basic school infrastructure such as toilets, drinking water electricity, smart classrooms/information technology labs, teacher training, remedial coaching, provision of scholarship drop-out prevention, career guidance and coaching support centres in the said district; and; (c) if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN) (a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 32 ANSWERED ON 02.02.2026 ASKED BY HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR REGARDING “BETTER EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS IN AMROHA”. (a) to (c) The Department of School and Literacy has launched an integrated Centrally Sponsored Scheme for School Education – Samagra Shiksha with effect from 2018-19. The Scheme is aligned with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and aims to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment, which takes care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and makes them active participants in the learning process. Under Samagra Shiksha, support is provided for strengthening existing government schools and improving infrastructure across the country including Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh. This includes the construction of additional classrooms, toilets (for boys, girls, and CWSN), provision of drinking water, electricity, ICT facilities, smart and digital classrooms based on the gaps determined from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) database and proposals received from respective States/UTs. Infrastructure needs are identified annually using data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) and accordingly, the annual plans under Samagra Shiksha are prepared by the States and UTs based on their requirements and priority and this is reflected in their Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B), which is then appraised and approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in consultation with the States and UTs as per programmatic and financial norms of the scheme. As informed by the State Government of Uttar Pradesh, the State has undertaken several targeted interventions in Amroha district, particularly for students in rural areas. The State has ensured the availability of adequate teaching staff in elementary schools and maintains an optimal Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR). Academic mentoring mechanisms are in place to address subject-specific learning needs, particularly in Mathematics and Science. Math and Science Kits have been provided to schools along with targeted training for their usage. To address foundational learning gaps, the NIPUN Bharat Mission (Foundational Literacy and Numeracy) is being implemented in all Primary Schools of Amroha district. The mission provides structured pedagogy, clearly defined grade-wise learning outcomes, teacher guides, student workbooks, and play-based and activity-based Teaching Learning Materials. The State has informed that under Operation Kayakalp, 19 essential basic infrastructure facilities have been created to enhance school readiness and improve the overall learning environment.These facilities include safe drinking water, separate toilets for boys and girls, toilets with running water and tiles, CWSN-friendly toilets, multiple handwashing units, tiled classrooms, black/green/white boards, kitchen renovation, whitewashing and painting of school buildings, ramps with railings, electrification, school furniture, tap-based running water, and boundary walls with gates. At present, the saturation of these 19 facilities across Amroha district is 99 percent. In addition to the above, in District Amroha, construction of three additional classrooms, reconstruction of five primary school buildings and one upper primary school building that were in a dilapidated condition has been undertaken. Under the PM SHRI scheme, 14 schools have been selected for comprehensive upgradation with all essential facilities to serve as model institutions. Two KGBV (Type-IV) Girls’ Hostels have been made operational from the academic year 2025–26 to ensure access to and retention of female students in secondary education. Career Guidance Fairs are being organized at both the school and district levels to support students in planning their future pathways. To enhance digital access, 100% primary schools in Uttar Pradesh have been provided with internet connectivity and tablets. ICT labs and smart classrooms have been established, including in rural areas. The DIKSHA platform provides access to more than 16,000 digital learning resources. Under the ICT initiatives in District Amroha, a total of 214 Smart Classes, 61 ICT Labs, 8 Digital Libraries, and 7 ICT Labs at BRCs have been approved during the period Financial Year 2022–23 to 2025–26. The Government of India, in the Budget 2025-26, has announced provision of broadband connectivity to all Government Secondary Schools in rural areas, under the ‘BharatNet’ project to enhance digital infrastructure in remote areas by BSNL. A comprehensive initiative called PM eVidya was initiated as part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education across the country. States/Union Territories (UTs) collaborate with NCERT to utilise these initiatives as per their requirements in mother tongue/local/regional languages. PM eVidya includes 200 DTH TV Channels allotted to States/UTs/Autonomous Bodies (ABs)/Other Ministries in Government of India and 400 Radio channels to enable them to provide supplementary education as per their requirement in various Indian languages for classes 1-12. As informed by the State of UP, continuous teacher capacity building is being ensured through face-to-face training, online courses on DIKSHA, and mentoring support by nearly 5,000 academic mentors. Monthly Sankul meetings are conducted for collaborative problem-solving. During 2025–26, 4,236 teachers were trained in Amroha. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is the Nation’s One Nation, One Digital platform for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs along with QR codedEnergised Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades. As a participant in DIKSHA, States/UTs/ABs have generated and contributed over 3.7 lakh content in mother local/regional languages enabling multilingualism. Overall, 565.28 crore learning sessions have been completed on DIKSHA by students, teachers and other stakeholders. The stakeholders have access to more than 450 Virtual Labs and 100 Virtual skill labs (50 each in Hindi and English) on DIKSHA. Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, and most of the schools come under the administrative jurisdiction of concerned State Government. Teacher recruitment is an ongoing process due to retirements, resignations, and the need to accommodate growing student numbers or new schools. It is the responsibility of each State/UT to conduct a comprehensive, technology-driven planning and forecasting exercise for timely recruitment. The Central Government supports the States and UTs in maintaining the Pupil- Teacher Ratio (PTR) through the Samagra Shiksha scheme by providing financial assistance. This is done in accordance with the norms of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, as amended. The Department regularly conducts review meetings and issues advisories urging States and UTs to fill teacher vacancies and ensure rational deployment. To ascertain/measure Learning Outcomes for Class 3, 6 and 9, DoSE&L conducts PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) Rashtriya Sarvekshan in every 3 years across the country. The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan is conducted across different management types, across rural & urban schools and across social groups to engineer interventions for equitable access & quality in education. The latest round of the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 was conducted on 4th December, 2024 by the National Assessment Centre, PARAKH under the aegis of the MoE. The report can be accessed at https://dashboard.par`akh.ncert.gov.in/en. Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 are available at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. The findings of PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 highlight a significant improvement as compared to National Achievement Survey 2021 in foundational literacy and numeracy skills, thereby reflecting the positive impact of the initiatives taken. The Central Sector Scheme 'National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme' is being implemented, with the objective to award scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue their education at secondary stage. One lakh fresh scholarships are awarded to selected students of class IX every year and their continuation /renewal in classes X to XII for study in State Government, Government-aided and Local body schools under the scheme. The amount of scholarship is Rs. 12000/- per annum. The Government of India provides financial assistance to States for giving exposure to SkillEducation to students of Grades VI to VIII and introduction of skill courses from Grades IX to XII, which are aligned with the National Curriculum Framework for school education (NCF-SE) and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Assistance is also provided for capacity building of Skill Education teachers/skill trainers, development of competency-based curriculum and teaching learning material, development of management information system for monitoring and evaluation, and taking up innovative programmes under Skill Education. Kaushal Bodh, the activity book of vocational education for Grade 6 to 8 has been launched by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) aligned with the NCF-SE & NEP-2020. Skill education aims to help students explore job-related skills in various sectors and make informed subject choices for higher studies. The provision for Hub and Spoke Model has been introduced, under which, the infrastructure available in the Hub schools are utilised by the students of nearby schools (spoke schools) for Skill training. ITIs, Polytechnics etc. are also being used as hubs. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has been implementing PMKVY since 2015 to create an industry ready workforce and enhance the employability skills. MoE coordinates for the implementation of PMKVY in schools. The scheme targets schools/college drop outs, out-of-school children and unemployed youths in the age group of 15-45 years. Under the scheme the targeted groups are offered demand driven and industry-linked skilling courses that will enable them to choose a career path aligned with their abilities and aspirations. It has been envisaged to leverage the existing infrastructure of schools after the school hours or on non-working days as ‘Skill Hub’ for imparting Skill Education and Training. The Ministry of Education launched "My Career Adviser," a mobile application. This app is designed to provide comprehensive career guidance to students, leveraging AI and machine learning to analyze their interests, skills, and academic performance. It offers personalized recommendations for various career paths, educational courses, and vocational training programs. It features information on over 1,500 job roles, detailed career profiles, and provides insights into educational requirements and vocational training programs. Aimed at students, teachers, and parents, MoE has launched Career Guide book for school students. This Career Guide Book consists of 500 career cards in 21 domains. Each career card contains work profile, essential personal traits, course fee, scholarships, loan prospects, entry pathway, details about course providing Institutions (Govt./Private/Online course) and example of pioneers in the field. A copy of this book is available at https/ https://dsel.education.gov.in/careers/index.html. *****