Ministry of Human Resource and Development

About Ministry

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development, formerly Ministry of Education (until 25 September 1985), is responsible for the development of human resources in India.
• The main objectives of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development would be –
  • • Formulating the National Policy on Education and to ensure that it is implemented in letter and spirit
    • Planned development, including expanding access and improving quality of the educational institutions throughout the country, including in the regions where people do not have easy access to education.
    • Paying special attention to disadvantaged groups like the poor, females and the minorities
    • Provide financial help in the form of scholarships, loan subsidy, etc to deserving students from deprived sections of the society.
    • Encouraging international cooperation in the field of education, including working closely with the UNESCO and foreign governments as well as Universities, to enhance the educational opportunities in the country.
• The Ministry of Human Resource and Development is divided into two departments – 

• • Department of School Education and Literacy
    • It deals with primary, secondary and higher secondary education, adult education and literacy. The Dept of SE & L has its eyes set on the “universalisation of education” and making better citizens out of our young brigade. For this, various new schemes and initiatives are taken up regularly and recently, those schemes and initiatives have also started paying dividends in the form of growing enrolment in schools.

• • Department of Higher Education
    • It deals with university education, technical education, scholarship etc. The Dept of HE, on the other hand, is engaged in bringing world class opportunities of higher education and research to the country so that Indian students are not finding lacking when facing an international platform. For this, the Government has launched joint ventures and signed MoUs to help the Indian student benefit from the world opinion.

 

SAMAGRA SIKSHA ABHIYAN – AN INTEGRATED SCHEME FOR SCHOOL EDUCATION

• Centrally Sponsored scheme, launched in December, 2018
• Nodal Department – Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource and Development
• It is an overarching programme for the school education sector that envisages the ‘school as a continuum’ from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels.
• Subsumes the 3 erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of:
  • 1. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
    2. Rashtriya Madyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
    3. Teachers Training and Adult Education
• Vision – To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-school to senior secondary stage in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education.
• Fund Allocation – Centre : State – 60:40 (90:10 for NE & Himalayan States)

Objectives

• • provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students;
  • Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education;
  • Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education;
  • Ensuring minimum standards in schooling provisions;
  • Promoting Vocationalisation of education;
  • Support States in implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009; and
  • Strengthening and up-gradation of SCERTs/State Institutes of Education and DIET as a nodal agencies for teacher training.

Salient Features

• • This scheme (from 1^st April, 2018 to 31^st March, 2020) was recently approved by the Cabinet. It subsumes the following three schemes-
    • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
    • Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, and
    • Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education
  • To create a sound institutional infrastructure for pre-service and in-service training of elementary & secondary school teachers and for provision of academic resource support to elementary and secondary schools. Samagra Shiksha envisages ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels.
  • The Scheme will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme by the Centre through a single State Implementation Society (SIS) at the State/UT level.
  • The major interventions, across all levels of school education, proposed under the scheme are –
    • • 1. Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention;
        2. Gender and Equity;
        3. Inclusive Education;
        4. Quality;
        5. Financial support for Teacher Salary;
        6. Digital initiatives;
        7. RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks etc.;
        8. Pre-school Education;
        9. Vocational Education;
        10. Sports and Physical Education;
        11. Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training;
        12. Monitoring;
        13. Programme Management; and
        14. National Component.
  • It is proposed that preference in the interventions would be given to Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), LWEs affected districts, Special Focus Districts (SFDs), Border areas and the 115 Aspirational districts.

Significance

• • School as a continuum – Single Scheme for the School Education Sector that includes senior secondary levels and pre-school levels in support for School education for the first time. Administrative reform – Single and unified administrative structure leading to harmonized implementation.
  • Performance based Funding – Learning outcomes and steps taken for quality improvement will be the basis for allocation of grants under the Scheme.
  • Focus on Digital Education – Enhanced Use ofTechnology to improve access and provision of quality education – ‘Sabko Shiksha Achhi Shiksha’ (Education for All, Quality Education)
  • Others – Focus on girl education, vocational skill development, sports and physical education, and regional balance.

 

SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAAN

• Centrally sponsored scheme under Ministry of Human Resource and Development, SSA has been operational since 2000-2001.
• Aim – Achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86^th amendment to the Constitution of India, making free and compulsory Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right.

Objectives

• • Universal elementary education access and retention.
  • Bridging of gender and social category gaps in education and Enhancement of learning levels of children.

Beneficiaries

• • Children between 6-14 years of age from all backgrounds.

Salient Features

• • A flagship programme which includes variety of interventions, like opening of new schools, construction of toilets (Swach Vidyalaya Campaign – separate toilets for girls and boys in all schools), periodic teacher training and academic resource support etc.
  • Sub-Programmes under SSA –
    1. 1. The ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (PBBB)
       2. The Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA)
       3. Vidyanjali
       4. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas – in educationally backward blocks to promote girls’ education.

Sub-Programmes under SSA

 

PADHE BHARAT BADHE BHARAT

Objectives

• • • Special focus on improving language development and to create interest in mathematics.
    • To recognise social perspective of home school transition.

Beneficiaries

• • • Focus on children in classes 1 and 2 to improve learning outcomes.
    • Reading Initiative: upto class 8

Salient Features

• • • Launched in 2014, it is implemented countrywide.
    • The two tracks of the programme are: Early reading and writing with comprehension (ERWC) and Early mathematics (EM).
    • As a follow up, National Reading Initiative was launched to develop and promote the habit of reading among students in elementary schools, thereby extending the programme up to class 8.

 

VIDYANJALI

Objectives

• • • Creating an ecosystem, wherein education will be attached with imbibing knowledge and improving learning output.

Beneficiaries

• • • Children of Government school, Government Aided school etc.,

Salient Features

• • • Will enhance the community involvement (by involving volunteers like NRIs, retired teachers, government officials, defence personnel, professionals, etc.) in Government run elementary schools and effectively engage children in co-scholastic activities like- reading, creative writing, public speaking, play acting, preparing story books etc.
    • The programme has been piloted in 21 states.

 

RASHTRIYA AVISHKAR ABHIYAN

Objectives

• • • To leverage the potential for science, mathematics and technology learning in non-classroom settings.
    • To encourage and nurture schools to be incubators of innovation.

Beneficiaries

• • • Students in the age group of 6 – 18 years in Government schools, KVs, special schools, special training centers etc.
    • school going students from classes I to XII in sciences

Salient Features

• • • Mentoring by institutes like IITs/ IIMs/ IISERs and other central universities and reputed organizations through innovative programmes, student exchanges, etc. to develop a natural sense of passion towards learning of science and maths.
    • It is a step to promote scientific temper and enquiry promoting the fundamental duty under Article 51(A).

 

RASHTRIYA MADHYAMIK SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (RMSA)

Launched in 2009 under Ministry of Human Resource and Development

Objectives 

• • To enhance access to secondary education and to improve its quality through making all secondary schools conform to prescribed norms, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, providing universal access to secondary level education

Salient Features 

• • Important physical facilities provided under the scheme are: Additional class rooms, Laboratories, Toilet blocks, Residential Hostels for Teachers in remote areas etc.
  • The scheme envisages to enhance the enrolment by providing a secondary school with a reasonable distance (5-7 km) of habitation, with an aim to ensure GER of 100 per cent and universal retention by 2020.
  • Important quality interventions provided under the scheme are: appointment of additional teachers to reduce PTR to 30:1, focus on Science, Math and English education, training of teachers, etc.
  • Important equity interventions provided in the scheme are: preference to Ashram schools for upgradation, preference to areas with concentration of SC/ST/Minority for opening of schools etc.
  • Apart from focusing on the vulnerable groups (ST/SC groups, minority girls, etc.) it also aims at inclusive education for differently abled children.

MAJOR INITIATIVES UNDER RMSA

Shaala Siddhi

• • • Launched in 2015 as a School Standards & Evaluation Framework.
    • An online portal allowing schools to conduct self-evaluation on a set of standards and facilitate them to make professional judgments for improvement.
    • Developed by National University of Educational Planning & Administration (NUEPA).

Shaala Darpan

• • • Launched in 2015
    • Provides services based on School Management Systems to Students, Parents and Communities.
    • School Profile Management, Student Profile Management, Employee Information, Student Attendance, Leave Management, Report Cards, Curriculum Tracking Custom, SMS Alerts for Parents/ Administrators on student & teacher attendance

Kala Utsav programme

• • • To promote arts (Music, Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts & Crafts) in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students at the secondary stage.

Swachh Vidyalaya Campaign

• • • for the provisions of separate toilets for girls and boys in every school.

e-Pathashala 

• • • Online portal by NCERT for student, teachers, educators, parent for access to digital books, resources, participation in workshops, exhibitions, research, etc. -+ part of Digital India Campaign.

All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis (ASMITA)

• • • launched under Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY) which aims to track the educational journey of school students from Class I to Class XII.
    • Using the Aadhar number of children, the scheme will track attendance and enrolment, infrastructural facilities, academic progress as well as mid-day meal service.

Operation Digital Board 

• • • would provide Smart Classroom facility to all 101580 schools with secondary and senior secondary classes, over the next five years.

‘Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching’

• • • launched in December 2014 with a vision to comprehensively address all issues related to teachers, teaching, teacher preparation, curriculum design, research in pedagogy.

 

MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME

• MDM is covered by National Food Security Act, 2013
• Meals focusing on holistic nutrition- Wheat/Rice, Vegetables, Pulses, Oil/Fat etc.
• Target group – Children studying in class I to VIII

Objectives

• • To enhance the enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among school going children.

Intended Beneficiaries

• • School children studying in Classes I to VIII of Government, Local body and Government – aided schools, Special Training centres (STC) and Madarasas and Maktabs supported under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
  • The Centres run under Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS)/Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) and National Children Labour Project (NCLP) schools of all areas across the country are also included under the MDM.
  • Government/government aided, local body, Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under SSA and National Child Labour Project schools run by Ministry of Labour.

Salient Features

• • It envisages to provide cooked mid-day meal with 450 calories and 12 g of protein to every child at primary level and 700 calories and 20 g of protein at upper primary level.
  • It also involves providing nutritional support to children of elementary stage in drought-affected area during summer vacation.
  • It is a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme and the cost of the MDMS is shared between the central and state governments.
    • • The central government provides free food grains to the states.
      • The cost of cooking, infrastructure development, transportation of food grains and payment of honorarium to cooks and helpers is shared by the centre with the state governments. The central government provides a greater share of funds.
      • The contribution of state governments differs from state to state.
      • At national level, an Empowered Committee, headed by Minister of Human Resource Development and also a National level Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee (NSMC) as well as Programme Approval Board (PAB) monitor the scheme and suggest measures for its smooth and effective implementation.
      • At the State level, a State Level Steering–cum-Monitoring Committee headed by the State Chief Secretary and, at the District Level, a District Level Committee under the Chairpersonship of the senior-most Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha of the district monitors the implementation of the scheme

Recent revised norms

• • Annual increase in Cooking cost linked to Inflation Index to offset the impact of inflation on the food items under Mid Day Meal Scheme.
  • Revision of the transportation rate from Rs 75 per quintal, for other than NE & Himalayan States to PDS rate (subject to maximum of Rs.150 per quintal).
  • Revision of Management Monitoring and Evaluation (MME) rate from 2% to 3% of the total admissible recurring Central Assistance. This would enable the States and UTs for better supervision and monitoring of the scheme.
  • The assistance for kitchen devices has been enhanced from Rs 5,000 per school to Rs 10,000 – Rs 25,000 based on enrolment to enable the schools for procuring/replacing adequate kitchen devices.
  • Two new components have also been approved
    1. 1. Repair of kitchen-cum stores – Assistance of Rs. 10,000 for the kitchen-cum-stores constructed ten years ago on sharing basis between Center and States
       2. Fortification of food items in a systematic manner through Food Corporation of India (FCI) starting with rice Kitchen gardens in each school will be encouraged.
  • Delegation of power of implementing the scheme with minor modifications from the existing guidelines to District Level Committee Chaired by the District Magistrate.
  • Also, The States and UTs have been given flexibility to utilize, with the prior approval of MHRD, 5% of their Annual Work Plan & Budget for new interventions.
  • Other norms include –
    1. 1. Use of Pulses from buffer stock -The States and UTs may procure pulses as per their local taste for the Mid-Day Meal from the Central buffer stock created by the Government of India.
       2. Monitoring of attendance – All States and UTs are required to ensure that daily data from 100% schools is uploaded through Automated Monitoring System (AMS).
       3. Menu under MDM – States and UTs are required to adopt ways to develop a menu that reflects local taste and local produce that is different on different days.
       4. Tithi Bhojan – to encourage people from the community to celebrate important days such as child birth, marriage, birthdays etc. by contributing to the MDM Scheme. Tithi Bhojan is not a substitute to MDM but it supplements or compliments MDM.
  • Usage of Jails, Temples, Gurudwaras etc. for MDM– All States and UTs are being advised to involve community and other agencies such as Jails, Temples, Gurudwaras etc. in the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

 

MADHYAMIK AND UCHCHTAR SHIKSHA KOSH (MUSK)

Objectives 

• It would be utilized for schemes of secondary and higher education, all over the country.

About Fund

• • All proceeds of “Secondary and Higher Education Cess” will be credited into it. A cess @ 1% on central taxes, called the “Secondary and Higher Education Cess” was levied through Finance Act, 2007.
  • The expenditure on schemes of the Department of School Education & Literacy and Department of Higher Education would be initially incurred from the gross budgetary support (GBS) and the expenditure would be financed from the MUSK only after the GBS is exhausted.
  • The fund would be operationalised as per the present arrangements under Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) wherein the proceeds of cess are used for Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Schemes of the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
  • The MUSK would be maintained as a Reserve Fund in the non-interest bearing section of the Public Accounts of India.

Salient Features

• • For Secondary Education-
    • 1. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shlksha Abhiyan Scheme
      2. National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme and
      3. National Scheme for Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education.
  • For Higher Education-
    • 1. Schemes of Interest Subsidy and contribution for guarantee funds, Scholarship for College & University Students
      2. Rashtriya Uchchtar Shiksha Abhiyaan
      3. Scholarship (from Block Grant to the institutions) and National Mission on Teachers and Training.

 

UDAAN- GIVING WINGS TO GIRLS

Objectives

• • To address the challenge of low enrolment of girls in technical education institutes.
  • To minimize the gap between school education & engineering entrance examination.
  • To enrich and enhance teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics at senior secondary level by addressing the three dimensions of education – curriculum design, transaction and assessments.

Intended Beneficiaries

• • Girls studying in classes XI only from KVs/ NVs/ Government Schools of any recognised Board/CBSE affiliated private schools in India.
  • The program is open to Indian citizens residing in India only.

Salient Features

• • Launched by CBSE under guidance of Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
  • It trains girl students in entrance examinations to top institutions and provides those incentives and support through tutorials, video classes, etc.
  • Students are provided free offline / online resources through virtual weekend contact classes and study material on pre-loaded tablet while studying in Class XI and Class XII for preparation of admission test to various premier engineering colleges in the country.
  • Supports 1,000 selected disadvantaged girls per year.

 

UNNAT BHARAT ABHIYAN

Objectives

• • To enable higher educational institutions to work with the people of rural India in identifying development challenges and evolving appropriate solutions for accelerating sustainable growth.
  • Strategy – Technical and higher education institutions to adopt 5 villages; identify technology gaps and prepare plans for innovations that could substantially increase the incomes and economic growth in the rural areas.

Salient Features

• • Building institutional capacity in Institutes of higher education in research & training relevant to the national needs, especially of rural India.
  • Provide rural India with professional resource support from institutes of higher education, especially those which have acquired academic excellence in the fields of Science, Engineering and Technology, and Management.
  • The second edition of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (2.0) under which institutions have been selected on a Challenge Mode and the scheme has been extended to 750 reputed Higher Educational Institutes (both public and private) of the country.
  • Students from these educational institutions will adopt villages and visit them to get acquainted with lifestyle of people there and the problems faced by them.

 

EK BHARAT SHRESTHA BHARAT PROGRAMME

Objectives 

• • To actively enhance interaction between people of diverse cultures living in different States and UTs in India to promote greater mutual understanding amongst them.

Salient Features 

• • As per the programme, each year, every State/UT would be paired with another State/UT in India for reciprocal interaction between the people.
  • The paired States/ UTs are to enter into MoUs with each other to carry out common activities under Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat
  • Rashtriya Ekta Shivir are organised under this programme by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan.
  • Expected outcome – Exchange of knowledge of the language, culture, traditions and practices of different states will lead to an enhanced understanding and bonding leading to Unity & Integrity.

 

DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) PORTAL

• DIKSHA is national digital platform for teachers which offers resources for teaching, learning, and professional development. It will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers.

Objective 

• • To equip all teachers, across the nation, with advanced digital technology which will enable, accelerate and amplify solutions in the realm of teacher education.

Developed by 

• • Ministry of Human Resource And Development and National Council For Teacher Education (NCTE)
  • Teachers can use the portal for: Teacher training content, In­class resources, News and announcement, Teacher community etc.

Key features/Significance

• • The Portal leverages existing highly scalable and flexible digital infrastructures, while keeping teachers at the centre.
  • It is built considering the whole teacher’s life cycle – from the time student teachers enrol in Teacher Education Institutes (TEis) to after they retire as teachers.
  • Teacher can learn and train themselves for which assessment resources will be available.
  • DIKSHA provides open, modular and scalable technology that state governments and other organizations can seamlessly integrate with their respective teacher ­centric initiatives.

 

PERFORMANCE GRADING INDEX (PGI)

• to assess the quality of school education provided by the states.
• The PGI is for the grading States and UTs on their performance across 70 indicators on quality of school education.

Objective

• • To help states and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level. Parameters

Outcomes

• • divided into four domains viz. Learning outcomes, Access outcomes, Infrastructure and Facilities and Equity outcomes.

Governance processes

• • which covers attendance, teacher adequacy, administrative adequacy, training, accountability and transparency.
  • The grading system also envisages the third-party verification by international organisations such as UNICEF etc.

 

Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat

• Launched by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan

Key objectives of the programme

• • To provide a comprehensive and inclusive physical Health and Fitness Profile Card for children covering all age groups and children of different abilities.
  • To make students, teachers and parents aware about the importance of good health and fitness and encouraging 60 minutes of play each day.
  • To bring back the childhood amongst children, make recreational games and physical activity an integral part of learning process.
  • To imbibe values of Olympics (respect, friendship, excellence) and Paralympics (courage, determination, equality, inspiration) amongst students
  • To motivate potentially outstanding performers in various games and sports of excellence
  • Using technology for data capture and analytics, and giving access to schools, parents and teacher.

 

INSTITUTE OF EMINENCE SCHEME

• Selected institution will get Rs. 200 crore every year for five years to improve their institution into a world-class facility.
• IOE is a tag given to institutions which are either –
  • • among Top 50 in the National institution Ranking Framework (in their category) or among Top 500 in internationally recognised rankings like the Times Higher Education World University Rankings;
    • have a good mix of foreign and domestic students as well as faculty;
    • have international standard infrastructure and are multi-disciplinary in their approach.

Benefits of loE status

• • Greater autonomy
    • to admit foreign students up to 30% of admitted students/.
    • to recruit foreign faculty upto 25% of faculty strength.
    • to offer on line courses upto 20% of its programmes
    • to enter into academic collaboration with top 500 in the world ranking Institutions without permission of UGC.
    • free to fix and charge fees from foreign students without restriction and from domestic student fees, subject to certain conditions.
    • complete flexibility in fixing of course structure, curriculum and syllabus.
  • Financial assistance – up to Rs. 1000 Crore over the period of five years
  • Enabling regulatory architecture – This has been provided in the form of UGC (Declaration of Government Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017.

 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME (TEQIP)

Objectives 

• • To overhaul the quality of technical education in the Low-Income States and Special Category States (SCS).
  • To employ graduates from premier colleges like IITs, NITs etc to teach in engineering colleges in backward districts for a period of 3 years as a part of TEQIP Phase 3.

Salient Features

• • The project, implemented as a Central sector Scheme, commenced with the World Bank assistance, as a long term programme of 10-12 years.
  • The present 3rd Phase of the schemes has central, eastern and north-eastern region and hill states as its focus states
  • The measures under TEQIP include:
  • Institution based: accreditation of the courses through National Board of Accreditation, governance reforms, improving the processes, digital initiatives, securing autonomy for the colleges.
  • Student based: improving the quality of teaching, teacher training, equipping the class rooms, revision of syllabus, industry interaction, compulsory internships for students, training the students in industry relevant skills, preparing them for the GATE exam etc.

 

SCHEME FOR HIGHER EDUCATION YOUTH IN APPRENTICESHIP AND SKILLS (SHREYAS)

Objectives 

• • To improve employability of students by introducing employment relevance into the learning process of the higher education system.
  • To forge a close functional link between education and industry/service sectors on a sustainable basis
  • To provide skills which are in demand, to the students in a dynamic manner
  • To establish an ‘earn while you learn’ system into higher education
  • To help business/industry in securing good quality manpower
  • To link student community with employment facilitating efforts of the Government.

Salient Features 

• • It is a programme basket comprising the initiatives of three Central Ministries, namely the
    1. 1. Ministry of Human Resource Development – introduction of BA/BSc/B.Com (Professional) courses in the higher educational institutions.
       2. Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship – National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).
       3. Ministry of Labour & Employment – National Career Service (NCS)
  • It will be implemented by the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs).
  • It aims to cover 50 lakh students by 2022.
  • The programme would witness simultaneous implementation along three tracks:
    1. 1. Add-on Apprenticeship – The students who are currently completing the degree programme would be invited to choose a job role of their choice from a selected list of apprenticeship job roles given by the Sector Skill Councils
       2. Embedded Apprenticeship – The existing B.Voc programmes would be restructured to include a mandatory apprenticeship ranging from 6 to 10 months depending on the requirement of the skill.
       3. Linking National Career Service with Colleges – National Career Service (NCS) portal of Ministry of Labour& Employment would be linked with the Higher Education institutions.
  • Financing – Under the NAPS scheme, Central Government shares 25% of the stipend per month subject to a maximum of Rs.1500 p.m during the period of the apprenticeship. Apart from that, an amount upto Rs.7500 will be met towards basic training cost, where needed.

 

RASHTRIYA UCHCHATAR SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (RUSA)

• Centrally sponsored scheme, launched in 2013.
• Nodal agency – Department of Higher Education under Ministry of Human Resource and Development
• Goal – To improve the Gross Enrolment Ratio to 30% by 2020, by providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions.
• Fund Allocation – Centre: State – 60:40 (90:10 for NE & Himalayan States)

Objectives 

• • It aims to usher transformative reforms in the State Higher Education System by creating a facilitating institutional structure for planning and monitoring at the state level, promoting autonomy in State Universities and improving governance in institutions.
  • Correct regional imbalances in access to higher education.
  • Create an enabling atmosphere in the higher educational institutions to devote themselves to research and innovations.
  • Expand the institutional base by creating additional capacity in existing institutions and establishing new institutions
  • Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of higher education to SC/STs and socially and educationally backward classes.

Salient Features 

• • Launched in 2013, it is a centrally sponsored flagship scheme under Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
  • The central funding would be norm based and outcome dependent.
  • It is proposed to improve the gross enrolment ratio to 30% by 2020.
  • The scheme will give priority to the Aspirational Districts, identified by the NITI Aayog.
  • Transformative reforms in the state higher education system by –
    • 1. Conforming to norms and standards and adoption of accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework.
      2. Promoting autonomy in state universities.
      3. Ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination systems.
      4. Ensure adequate availability of quality faculty
      5. Improving research and innovations
      6. Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of higher education to SC/STs and SEBCs; promote inclusion of women, minorities, and differently abled persons.
      7. Correcting regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved & underserved areas.

OTHER INITIATIVES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

 

Ishan Uday Scholarship Scheme

• • • Launched by UGC
    • Target beneficiaries – students of North East region whose parental income is less than 4.5 lakhs p.a.

Objective

• • • • Scholarships (between R. 3,500 – 5000/month) for undergraduates students to study general degree course, technical and professional courses including medical & para-medical courses.

Salient Features

• • • • To improve GER ratio in the North East region of the country
      • The scheme has 10,000 slots for fresh scholarships every year for students from North Eastern Region (8 states) whose parental income is below Rs. 4.5 lakhs per annum.

Ishan Vikas

• • • Target beneficiaries – students of North East region

Objective

• • • • To give academic exposure to students by bringing them in close contact with premier institutes such as IITs, National Institutes of Technology (NITs), during their vacation period.

Salient Features 

• • • • A Special Scholarship Scheme for school students from northeast (8 states) to Premier institutes for general degree course, technical and professional courses including medical and para-medical courses.

 

Pragati

• • • Scholarship scheme Launched by AICTE
    • Objective – Providing Assistance for Girls’ Advancement in Technical Education on merit basis
    • Target beneficiaries – Girl Student; one girl per family where family income is less than 6 lakhs / annum (Reservation : 15% SC, 7.5% ST, 27% OBC)

Saksham Scholarship

• • • By AICTE to provide support to differently abled students to pursue technical education.

 

STUDY WEBS OF ACTIVE-LEARNING FOR YOUNG ASPIRING MINDS (SWAYAM)

• • Interactive Online platform providing free of cost online programmes/courses (MOOCs)
  • Courses offered – all the courses – from 9th class till post-graduation.
  • Guiding Principles – 3 cardinal principles of Education Policy – access, equity & quality
  • Indigenously developed by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with the help of Microsoft.
  • Salient Features 
    • To bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.
    • An indigenous developed IT platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post-graduation to be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time, free of cost.

 

SWAYAM Prabha DTH channels

• • Launched in 2017

Objective

• • to provide high quality educational contents through 32 DTH (direct to home) Television Channels on 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite

Coverage

• • • Covers diverse disciplines of all levels of education in various languages
    • Higher Education, School education (9-12 levels), courses to meet the needs of life-long learners of Indian citizens, assist students (class 11th & 12th) prepare for competitive exams.

e-Shodh Sindhu

• • Consortia for Higher Education E-Resources
  • Objective – to provide access to quality electronic resources including full-text, bibliographic and factual databases to academic institutions at a lower rates of subscription.

Shodhganga

• • It is a national repository of all M.Phil/Ph.D thesis and dissertations by universities of India to make it accessible to all institutions.
  • The task of setting-up of this repository was assigned to INFLIBNET Centre, Gandhinagar- an Inter­University Centre of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Margdarshan

• • Under AICTE – Project for 3 years
  • Objective – Providing mentoring to an institute by a well performing institute to encourage best practices Strategy
  • Hub ‘n Spoke system to be established by Institute of repute, as a Mentor within an existing facility, to serve as the hub to guide and disperse knowledge (to 10 institutes)
  • Fund dispersed by AICTE to be utilized to conduct programmes for technical upliftment of the faculty members, and NOT for purchase of equipment like computer, laptop etc.

 

Global Initiative for Academics Network (GIAN)

• • Objective – Tapping the talent pool of international scientists and entrepreneurs, to promote their engagement with the institutes of higher education in India.
  • Goal – To augment India’s existing academic resources, accelerate pace of quality reforms, & elevate India’s scientific & technological capacity to global excellence
  • Salient Features –
    • It is to foster greater collaboration and exchange of knowledge between local students/ faculty and international scholars.
    • The lectures under GIAN would be made available to the students across the country through the SWAYAM, the MOOCs platform and the National Digital Library.

 

IMPRINT INDIA: IMPACTING RESEARCH INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (IMPRINT) INDIA

• • It is a joint initiative of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) under the ministry, launched in 2015.

Objective

• • • It seeks to develop a road map for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in 10 technology domains relevant for the country (like health care technology, nano technology, advance resources, sustainable habitat, etc.)

Salient Features –

• • • Recently, IMPRINT-2 has been approved by Government with a revised strategy under which, this national initiative will be jointly funded and steered by Ministry of Human Resource and Development and Department of Science and Technology (DST). Key features of IMPRINT-II include–
      • Principle objective is to translate knowledge into viable technology
      • MHRD and DST will be equal partners in the scheme
      • It will be open to all Ministry of Human Resource and Development funded Higher Education Institute (HEI)/Centrally Funded Technical Institution (CFTI). Its scope has been extended to private institutions as well.
      • Projects with industry support will be preferred.

 

Campus Connect Programme

• • Under this, all the Central Universities in the country are going to be connected through WIFI network – classrooms, libraries, laboratories, hostels – 24 *7 access to educational resources.
  • Implemented by ERNET.

 

Ucchtar Aavishkar Abhiyaan

• • Objective – To promote industry-specific need-based research in the educational institutions to keep up the competitiveness of the Indian industry in the global market.
  • All the IITs have been encouraged to work with the industry to identify areas where innovation is required and come up with solutions that could be brought upto commercialization level.

 

National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)

• • This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country, launched in 2015.
  • It evaluates each higher education institution on 5 broad parameters – teaching/learning resources, research, graduation outcomes, outreach/inclusive nature and the public perception
    • It would enable parents, students, teachers, educational institutions, & other stakeholders to rank institutions on a set of objective parameters
    • In 2018 rankings, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, was ranked first.

RECENT INITIATIVES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

 

SCHEME FOR PROMOTION OF RESEARCH COLLABORATION (SPARC)

Objective

• • To improve the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the top academic institutions in the world.
  • To boost joint research with global universities from 28 countries and get international expertise to solve major national problems, train Indian students in the best laboratories, deepen academic engagement and improve the international ranking of Indian Institutes.

Coordinating Agency – Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

5 Thrust Areas – Fundamental Research, Emergent Areas of Impact, Convergence, Action-Oriented Research and Innovation-Driven.

Implementation

• • A set of Nodal Institutions (NI), from India, for each participating foreign country has been identified to help, handhold and coordinate with willing Participating Indian (Pl) Institutions to forge alliance with the Institutions of concerned participating foreign country, for academic and research collaboration. 
  • The Indian institutions will include those from top-100 or category-wise top-100 in NIRF (including such Private Institutions which are recognized under 12(8) of UGC Act).
  • The foreign institutions will be from top-500 overall and top-200 subject-wise institutions listed in QS World University Ranking from 28 selected nations.

 

SCHEME FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL AND ADVANCED RESEARCH IN SCIENCES (STARS)

• Inter-disciplinary and transformative research in the field of science by allowing educational institutions in the hinterland to collaborate with established research centres in science. Coordinated by IISc, Bangalore.
• Under this, 500 science projects would be funded.
• The project will be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

 

MHRD INNOVATION CELL (MIC)

• It is Ministry of Human Resource and Development’s initiative, established at AICTE, with a purpose to systematically foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher Education Institutions (HEls) across the country.
• Primary mandate – to encourage, inspire and nurture young students by exposing them to new ideas and processes resulting in innovative activities in their formative years fostered through Network of Innovation clubs in Higher Educational Institutions.
• Major Programs
  • 1. Network of Innovation Clubs (Nie)
    2. Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA)
    3. Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2019
    4. National Student Startup Policy (NSSP)

 

ATAL RANKING OF INSTITUTIONS ON INNOVATION ACHIEVEMENTS (ARIIA)

• To foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher Education Institutions by systematically ranking education institutions and universities primarily on innovation related indicators.

 

NATIONAL STUDENT STARTUP POLICY (NSSP)

• The policy aims at identifying the innovative and entrepreneurial potential of students and transforming them into start-up entrepreneurs.
• This can be done by developing an ideal entrepreneurial ecosystem and promoting strong inter-­institutional partnerships among technical institutions, other ecosystem enablers, different stakeholders, programs, market and society.

 

IMPACTFUL POLICY RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SCIENCES (IMPRESS)

Aim

• • To identify and fund research proposals in social sciences, with maximum impact on the governance and society.

Eligibility

• • Provide opportunity for social science researchers in any institution in the country, including all Universities (Central and State), private institutions with 12(8) status conferred by UGC and ICSSR funded/recognised research institutes

Project Implementing Agency – Indian Council of Social Science and Research (ICSSR). it was established in 1969 by Gol to promote research in social sciences in the country.

Focus Area

• • Focus research on 11 broad thematic areas: State and Democracy, Urban transformation, Media, Culture and Society, Employment, Skills and Rural transformation, Governance, Innovation and Public Policy, Growth, Macro-trade and Economic Policy, Agriculture and Rural Development, Health and Environment, Science and Education, Social Media and Technology, Politics, Law and Economics.
  • Under the Scheme, 1500 research projects will be awarded for 2 years to support the social science research in the higher educational institutions and to enable research to guide policy making.

 

LEADERSHIP FOR ACADEMICIANS PROGRAMME (LEAP)

• Flagship leadership development training Programme to prepare second tier academic heads who are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future.

Duration

• • 3 weeks (2 weeks domestic and 1 week foreign training)

Implementation

• • Through 15 National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) top ranked Indian Institutions. Foreign universities identified for training collaboration are also within top 100 in world global rankings.

 

ANNUAL REFRESHER PROGRAMME IN TEACHING (ARPIT)

• An online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM.
• Implementation – 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase.
• These institutes are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in the discipline, pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transacting revised curriculum.

 

OTHER SCHEMES/INITIATIVES OF MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE AND DEVELOPMENT

 

 

 

To read and learn about Government Schemes and Programs related to other Ministries, Click Here. (Notes on all Government Ministries Schemes and Programs)