Sukhu Government’s Education Overhaul: Quality and Inclusivity at Its Core!
Shimla/Usha Sharma (The Uttam Hindu): – The present state government has taken several innovative initiatives to ensure quality and inclusive education for the students in the state. Several reformative steps have been taken and various schemes have been launched with the aim of strengthening the education sector and educational institutions. The state government has formed clusters of schools with the aim of bringing quality in teaching in the government schools of the state and providing better facilities to the students. As a result of the formation of clusters of schools, the number of both students and teachers has increased and the facility of quality education has been ensured. With this new initiative of the state government, now the children of primary schools are also taking advantage of other facilities including laboratories established for higher class students.
To instill confidence in students of government schools and provide them equal opportunity in education, English has been made the medium of instruction from class 1. Apart from this, Rajiv Gandhi Day-boarding schools equipped with state-of-the-art technology are being established in every assembly constituency with the aim of providing the best education and world-class facilities to the students. The government has started pre-school classes in 6297 primary schools.
The government has also launched 'Mukhyamantri Sukh Shiksha Yojana' with the objective of providing financial assistance for the education and welfare of children of widows, destitute, abandoned and disabled women. A budget of Rs 53.21 crore has been kept for this scheme. 'Bal Poshak Aahar Yojana' has been started in 15,181 schools, which has benefited 5.34 lakh children with additional nutrition like eggs, fruits. The state government has allocated Rs 12.75 crore for this initiative. The government has launched Dr. Y.S. Parmar Vidhyarthi Loan Yojana. Under this scheme, students are being provided loans up to Rs 20 lakh for higher education at a nominal interest rate of just one per cent. This scheme has been expanded with the objective of benefiting eligible meritorious students from weaker sections for pursuing professional and vocational courses in educational institutions abroad. Under the scheme, these students are being provided educational loans at an interest rate of one per cent.
'Mukhyamantri Bal Poshtik Aahar Yojana' has been started to provide nutritious food to the children of all government schools, which is being availed by 15,181 children from nursery to class VIII. Under the Srinivas Ramanujan Vidyarthi Yojana, 11,552 tablets have been provided to meritorious students of 10th and 12th and colleges. The main objective of providing tablets is that the students acquire digital literacy along with the curriculum and become capable of using new technologies of the future. Smart and virtual classes have been started in various schools and colleges under the Information and Communication Technology initiative. State Level Teacher Award Scheme-2024 has been started to honor teachers for valuable services.
The state government has taken the initiative of exposure visit for teachers abroad, under which 200 teachers were sent to Singapore in the first phase to gain knowledge of educational activities. Apart from this, 200 teachers have returned after gaining educational experience in Kerala and other states. The objective of this initiative of the government is to establish valuable international educational standards and provide a platform to provide unlimited opportunities for the future by sharpening the knowledge of teachers through facilities. The state government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the prestigious Re-Principal Academy of Singapore, under which Himachal teachers will be provided training in modern teaching methods, leadership skills and innovation based teaching processes in Singapore. The government has sent 50 meritorious students to Cambodia and Singapore for 11 days of educational study, who will return to the country on February 17.
Tablets are being provided to primary school teachers as part of efforts to promote digitalization in education and administrative work. A total of 17,510 teachers will be provided tablets. The objective of this initiative is to promote modernization in teaching work, ensure access to digital educational resources and simplify administrative work like updating data. Through this, teachers will be able to enhance their knowledge by participating in online training programs.
With the objective of quality in education, 850 educational institutions of the state have been notified as institutions of excellence. A historic decision has been taken to fill 15 thousand posts of academic and non-academic staff. 3,200 posts of teachers have been filled batchwise while more than 2,800 posts are being filled through the State Selection Commission. The recruitment process for filling 700 posts of PGT teachers and 6200 posts of NTT will be started soon. To ensure the education of students, a ban has been imposed on the transfer of teachers in the middle of the academic session. Apart from direct recruitment, thousands of posts have also been filled through promotion. Similarly, with the objective of strengthening college level education, 120 college principals and 483 assistant professors have been appointed. Agriculture and horticulture have been added as an additional subject in the schools of the state and cluster system has been started in schools. The prize money, diet and travel allowances of the players have been increased.
