The cabinet has approved the proposal for a new Integrated Scheme on School Education from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sanctioned the proposal of the Department of School Education and Literacy to subsume Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Education.
According to an official statement, the new scheme has been allocated Rs 75,000 crore for the same, a 20 per cent increase over the existing allocations, said an official statement.
“The vision of the scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from nursery to senior secondary stage in accordance with the (United Nations’) Sustainable Development Goal for Education. The main emphasis of the integrated scheme is on improving quality of school education by focussing on the two T’s — Teacher and Technology,” the statement said.
The news scheme aims to bridge social and gender gaps in school education, ensuring minimum standards in schooling provisions, and promoting vocationalisation of education, among others.
Other than this, the CCEA also nodded for continuation of the Credit Guarantee Fund for Education Loans Scheme along with modified Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme with a financial outlay of Rs 6,600 crore from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020
Under the scheme, education loans will be provided to 10 lakh students in next three years with disbursal of around 3.3 lakh loans annually. “This reflects an increase of 20 per cent over the previous scheme,” the statement added.
