National Education Day 2022: Education ministry looks back at development in schools, colleges

NEW DELHI: India celebrates the National Education Day on November 11 every year, on the birthday of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India. On this occasion, the education minister has looked back at the development in the education sector.

The ministry of education said, “The Government of India is committed towards securing the future of the country by giving special emphasis on building strong and effective education infrastructure catering to holistic development of students and youth.”

In a step towards transforming the education system in India, the Union cabinet of India approved the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) on July 29, 2020, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st century education, including Sustainable Development Goal 4, the ministry said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in 2022 reviewed the implementation of NEP 2020 and said in two years since the launch it has seen many initiatives being unrolled to achieve the objectives of access, equity, inclusivity and quality, as laid down under the policy. Under the policy, a target has been set to impart vocational skills to at least 50% of the students by 2025.

Looking back at the development in the education sector, the ministry said that the Union Budget 2022 allocation for the education sector witnessed a jump of 11.86% from FY 2021-22 to FY 2022-23. It also said that the total number of government schools having basic facilities has increased.

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According to the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) has improved in primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in India. More than 8 lakh new girl students enrolled in primary to higher secondary last year.

“The Government also decided that the fee of 50% of seats in private medical colleges will be equal to the fee in the government medical colleges. As a result, about Rs. 2,500 crore will be saved for children belonging to the poor and middle-class,” it informed.

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently launched the portal for selection of Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India, PM SHRI schools – pmshrischools.education.gov.in.