Ministry of Education organizes workshop on ‘Volunteering for Ullas’

Shri Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education presided over a virtual workshop with students of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) under the NCTE on ‘Volunteering for Ullas’ today. The workshop aimed at fostering Youth Volunteerism from TEIs to achieve full literacy across India as enshrined in the NEP 2020. Smt. Archana Sharma Awasthi, Joint Secretary, DoSE&L; Prof. Pankaj Arora, Chairperson, NCTE; Ms. Kesang Y. Sherpa, Member Secretary, NCTE; Smt. Preeti Meena, Director, DoSE&L, and other officials were present at the meeting.

While addressing the students and teachers from TEIs, Shri Sanjay Kumar emphasized coming together to pay special attention to promoting literacy across the country in all sections of society. He exhorted that illiterate people in our society should be given the gift of literacy. Teacher Educators and administrators should support and guide the students at their institutes in registering on the ULLAS App, he added.

Smt. Archana Sharma Awasthi presented on the agenda of the workshop of ‘ULLAS: Nav Bharat Literacy Programme’ and encouraged the students and teachers to join the program for community service and engagement.

Prof. Pankaj Arora highlighted that the National Council for Teacher Education is fully committed to realizing the dream of Viksit Bharat by achieving the goal of ‘Jan Jan Saakshar’.

Ms. Kesang Y. Sherpa presented on the Role of Teacher Education Institutions in ULLAS. While presenting the role of NCTE in the context of the implementation of ULLAS, she highlighted that for the academic session 2023-24, NCTE had directed all Teacher Education Institutions to connect 8-10 students with the ULLAS initiative and motivate them to become volunteer teachers and contribute to nation building cause. The students can earn 2 Credits for Community Engagement & Service for active participation in activities related to ULLAS-New India Literacy Programme (NILP), NSS & Other community activities, she added.

Smt. Preeti Meena gave a detailed presentation on Ullas which also covered the implementation steps of Ullas in TEIs. More than 18,000 TEIs, faculty and student-teachers were inducted during the session.