Context: The Kerala state government has decided to approach the Supreme Court against the Centre’s decision to withhold the release of Rs 1,500 crore to the state under various centrally sponsored education schemes. The funds have reportedly been held back after Kerala refused to sign the PM SHRI scheme memorandum.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts about the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) Scheme.
About PM-SHRI Scheme
- PM-SHRI is a centrally sponsored scheme launched by Ministry of Education aiming to develop more than 14500 schools across the country as PM-SHRI Schools by strengthening select existing schools managed by Central/State/Local bodies.
- These schools will showcase all the components of the National Education Policy, 2020 as model schools.
- PM-SHRI schools are to act as exemplar schools, and offer mentorship to other schools in the vicinity.
- It also aims to deliver quality teaching for the cognitive development of the students and provide the students with key 21st century skills.
Key Features of PM-SHRI Schools
- Provide high-quality education in an equitable and inclusive environment, that will take care of the diverse backgrounds, multilingual needs and different academic abilities of children.
- Schools under the scheme are to be developed as ‘Green School’, that will incorporate environment friendly aspects like Solar panels and LED lights, nutrition gardens with natural farming, water conservation and harvesting, climate change related hackathon etc.
- The schools will adopt pedagogy that will be more experiential, holistic, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, and learner-centred.
- Assessment of students will be based on conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to real life situations.
- The scheme aims to provide linkage with the sector skill councils and local industry to enhance employability and to provide better employment opportunities.
- To evaluate the schools at regular intervals, ‘A School Quality Assessment Framework (SQAF)’, will be developed, which will specify performance indicators.
Illustrative Illustrations under PM-SHRI Scheme
- Quality and Innovation, includes learning enhancement programme, holistic progress card, innovative pedagogies, bagless days, internships with local artisans etc.
- Under RTE Act, beneficiary-oriented entitlements will be provided.
- 100% of PM-SHRI schools will receive Science and Math kits.
- Focus will also be on early childhood care and education, that will also include Balvatika and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.
- Encourage flexibility in choice of subjects offered to students.
- Local languages/mother tongue are to be encouraged as medium of instructions and use of technological interventions to help bridge language barriers.
- 100% of the PM SHRI Schools will be covered under ICT, smart classrooms and digital initiatives.
- To develop these schools with all modern facilities, saturation approach will be adopted.
- The scheme also envisions to converge with existing schemes/Panchayati Raj Institutions/Urban Local Bodies and community participation for infrastructure upgradation of the school.
Implementation and Selection strategy of the scheme
- It will be implemented through the existing administrative structure available for Samagra Shiksha, Kendriya Vidyalaya schools and Navodaya Vidyalaya schools.
- The schools under the scheme shall be monitored vigorously to assess progress and understand the challenges faced in the implementation of National Education Policy, 2020.
- The schools shall be selected through ‘Challenge Mode’, where the schools would compete for support to become exemplar schools.
- The Elementary Schools, Secondary/Senior Secondary Schools managed by the Centre/State/UT governments/Local self-governments having UDISE+ code will be considered for selection under the scheme.
- Maximum of two schools (one elementary and one secondary/senior secondary) would be selected per block/Urban local bodies with upper limit number of total schools across India.
- PM-SHRI schools will be Geo-tagged for the selection and monitoring processes.
- Services of Bhaskaryacharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG-N) will be taken for geo-tagging.
- For the final selection of schools, an expert committee would be constituted.
- Beneficiaries under the PM-SHRI Scheme: More than 18 Lakh students are expected to be direct beneficiaries of the scheme.