Ministry of Education organises the breakaway session on the occasion of Civil Services Day

The Ministry of Education, Department of School Education and Literacy organised the breakaway session (BS-III) based on the theme, “Improving Quality of Education- Improving Outcome Through Vidya Samiksha Kendras”. The programme was organised at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi on the occasion of Civil Services Day on 20th April, 2023.

In this program, Shri Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Education, Smt. L.S Changsan, Additional Secretary, School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Department of School Education & Literacy, Shri Manjul Bhargava Professor of Mathematics Princeton University, Shri Anurag Behar, CEO Azim Premji Foundation, Dr. Ratanakanvar H. Gandhvicharan, State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Gujarat, Shri Sunny K. Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Changlang, District, Arunachal Pradesh were among the expert panelists. The session was moderated by Shri Vipin Kumar, Joint Secretary, Dept. of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education. Various stakeholders like KVS, NVS, CBSE, CIET/ NCERT, NCTE, NIEPA, NIOS and Teachers in large numbers were present during the sessions. Various state and field officials also participated through the online mode.

This was first time that Samagra Shiksha Scheme of School Education Department was selected for being a part of PM Awards category on the occasion of Civil Services day.

In his opening remarks the Shri Sanjay Kumar mentioned that India has roughly more than 26 crore students, across varied kinds of schools and socio-economic backgrounds. He mentioned that to cater to such a complex, diverse, and enormous student population, there is need to have a policy that would prepare students for the 21st century yet keep them connected to their root, values, and ethos. The National Education Policy, 2020 archives that target perfectly.

He further mentioned the importance of digitising the monitoring and tracking of learning outcomes through VSK which was set up first of all in Gujarat. If implemented with care and imagination, this will revolutionise the education system by helping each child achieve their utmost potential. He was hopeful that under the watchful eye of India’s leadership, soon the learning outcomes for all the children in the country will improve.

He further shared how the impact of COVID on school education and poor learning outcomes have been diagnosed through systematic assessments such as NAS. These assessments shall also help us in realizing the effectiveness of our  interventions.

Shri Sunny Singh spoke about the initiatives undertaken by him in his district to improve learning levels for children in the remote areas of Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh. Dr. Ratnakanvar illustrated the work being done by proper adoption and implementation of VSK in Gujarat. It really sets a model for all the other states and UTs in the utilisation of VSK to track progress and monitor outcomes. Shri Anurag Behar’s shared his experience of working on the ground to help improve learning in the most disadvantaged areas has helped make education attainable for all. He touched upon some very crucial points such as teacher capacity building, strategic implementation of NEP, and real-time monitoring via VSK.

Dr Manjul Bhargava spoke on the importance of holistic education. He said that the National Education Policy 2020 has prioritised holistic education and with the help of Samagra Shiksha, we will be able to impart the same to every student in the country.

Q&A session was also conducted, wherein representatives from various organizations actively participated and shared their concerns which were addressed by expert panellists.