Year-end-Review-of-Samagra-Shiksha-2024-25
Achievements of Education Schemes (2024-25): Ministry of Education
Year End Review 2024: PIB Release, 09 January 2025, Delhi [PDF]
Background
The Government of India, through the Ministry of Education, has implemented several schemes in 2024-25 to promote equitable and quality education across the country. These initiatives align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, focusing on universal access, foundational learning, competency-based education, digital transformation, and inclusive development. The Samagra Shiksha scheme remains the umbrella program for school education, while targeted schemes such as PM SHRI, PM POSHAN, ULLAS, PM-JANMAN, and PARAKH address specific challenges. This brief highlights the key achievements of these programs and evaluates their implications for the future is based on the PIB Press Release of Dated 9th January 2005.
Major Achievements of Education Schemes (2024-25)
- Samagra Shiksha (Holistic School Education)
A centrally sponsored scheme that integrates all levels of school education from pre-primary to Class XII, focusing on infrastructure development, equity, digital learning, and inclusive education.
Key Achievements: 2018-2025
- 3,656 schools upgraded.
- 242 new residential schools/hostels established.
- 80,105 schools strengthened with additional classrooms and better infrastructure.
- 138,802 schools equipped with ICT & digital initiatives (Smart Schools).
- 9,477 schools introduced vocational education.
- 3,313 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) upgraded.
- 35,457 separate girls’ toilets were constructed.
- PM SHRI (Schools for Rising India)
A flagship initiative to transform existing government schools into 14,500+ model institutions showcasing NEP 2020 principles, focusing on technology, skill development, and teacher training.
Achievements
- 12,084 schools were selected under the program.
- Upgraded facilities: Smart classrooms, STEM labs, Atal Tinkering Labs, playgrounds.
- Schools act as mentor institutions for surrounding schools.
- PM POSHAN (Mid-Day Meal Scheme)
Provides hot cooked meals to students from Bal Vatika to Class VIII in Government and aided schools to improve nutrition and learning outcomes.
Key Features & Achievements
- Tithi Bhojan: Community participation in school meals.
- School Nutrition Gardens: Promote sustainable food practices.
- Social Audits: Mandatory in all districts.
- Special provisions for aspirational districts and areas with high anemia prevalence.
- ULLAS (Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram – Adult Literacy)
A nationwide initiative for lifelong learning focusing on foundational literacy, vocational skills, and digital literacy for adults aged 15 and above.
Achievements
- 2 crore+ learners, 39 lakh+ volunteers registered.
- 1.11 crore learners were assessed, and 88.9 lakh were declared literate.
- Ladakh was declared fully literate (June 2024).
- Twenty-six language primers were developed.
- 4.8 crore+ participants in 2024 National Literacy Week.
- National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)
Provides financial support to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to prevent dropouts in secondary education.
Achievements
- 2.5 lakh scholarships awarded in 2023-24.
- ₹1,827 crore allocated (2021-2026).
- ₹12,000 annual scholarship per student.
- PM-JANMAN (Tribal Education Initiative)
A unique initiative for 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) focusing on hostels, residential schools, and holistic education access.
Achievements
- ₹450 crore allocated for 100 hostels (2023-24).
- 75 new hostels sanctioned (₹188.99 crore, 2024-25).
- DA-JGUA (Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan)
Aims at holistic development of tribal populations through improved education infrastructure, particularly 1,000 hostels by 2028-29.
Achievements:
- ₹1,102.19 crore was sanctioned for 304 hostels (2024-25).
- PARAKH (Performance Assessment & Holistic Development)
A National Assessment Centre under NCERT for equivalence in school assessments across states and improved competency-based evaluations.
Achievements
- Twenty-three lakh students were assessed in December 2024.
- Holistic Progress Cards (HPCs) were developed for all stages.
- Standardization of board exam patterns across states.
- Eco Clubs for Mission LiFE
School-based environmental awareness programs promoting sustainability, waste reduction, and climate change education.
Achievements
- 1.46 lakh new Eco Clubs formed.
- 5.18 crore saplings planted (2024).
- ₹744 crore was allocated for climate awareness programs.
- Teacher Education & Professional Development
- 64 institutions offering a 4-year Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP).
- National Professional Standards for Teachers and National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) were introduced.
Concluding Observations: Unfinished Tasks & Challenges
While these programs have made significant strides, several critical gaps remain:
- Enrollment & Dropout Issues
- In several states, the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) at the secondary level still falls below 75%.
- Dropout rates in tribal and rural areas remain above 10% in many districts.
- Transition rates from elementary to secondary education remain a concern, especially for girls.
- Infrastructure Gaps
- Despite new school construction, over 50,000 schools still lack adequate infrastructure.
- Toilets for girls and accessibility for children with special needs remain inconsistent across states.
- Teacher Shortages & Training
- NEP 2020 aims for well-trained teachers, but vacancies in rural areas remain high.
- Only a fraction of teachers have received competency-based training under NEP reforms.
- Equivalence in Assessments
- PARAKH’s work in standardizing exams is ongoing, but state-level board exam variations persist.
- Nutrition & Health in Schools
- Malnutrition remains a concern, with anaemia affecting a large percentage of schoolchildren.
- PM POSHAN funding needs expansion to include more supplementary nutrition programs.
The Road Ahead
To fully realize the Education for All goal, targeted policy interventions are needed, particularly in reducing dropout rates, ensuring teacher availability, and strengthening digital & vocational education. Increased state-level collaboration, better financial allocations, and monitoring frameworks will be key to bridging the gap between achievements and the unfinished task ahead.
The Observations should have been presented regarding targets set out during the year, and reasons for targets not achieved, if any, must have been discussed.
FAQs on Samagra Shiksha
Q1: What is Samagra Shiksha?
A: Samagra Shiksha is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by the Department of School Education & Literacy. It provides financial assistance to States and UTs to universalize school education from pre-primary to Class XII, in alignment with the Right to Education (RTE) Act and Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG-4).
Q2: How does Samagra Shiksha support school infrastructure development?
A: The scheme funds the construction of new schools, additional classrooms, hostels (including for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups), school buildings, and infrastructure under programs like the Vibrant Village Programme and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan.
Key Achievements (2018-2025)
Q3: How many schools have been upgraded under Samagra Shiksha?
A: 3,656 schools have been upgraded between 2018-19 and 2024-25.
Q4: What has been done for digital education under the scheme?
A: Around 1,38,802 schools have been covered under ICT and digital initiatives, including Smart Schools.
Q5: How many Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) have been upgraded?
A: 313 KGBVs have been upgraded from Class VIII to X, and 2,303 KGBVs have been upgraded from Class VIII to XII.
PM SHRI Schools
Q6: What is the PM SHRI scheme?
A: The PM SHRI (PM Schools for Rising India) scheme aims to develop more than 14,500 exemplary schools implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, with state-of-the-art infrastructure and quality education.
Q7: How many PM SHRI Schools have been selected so far?
A: 12,084 schools across 32 States/UTs, including KVS/NVS, have been selected under the scheme.
PM POSHAN (Mid-Day Meal Scheme)
Q8: What is the PM POSHAN scheme?
A: PM POSHAN (earlier known as Mid-Day Meal) provides hot-cooked meals to children in government and government-aided schools to improve nutrition and encourage school attendance.
Q9: What recent improvements have been made in the PM POSHAN scheme?
A: The meal ingredients cost has increased to ₹6.19 per child per day for primary classes and ₹9.29 for upper primary classes from December 2024.
Adult Literacy & ULLAS (Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram)
Q10: What is ULLAS?
A: ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society) is an adult education program providing foundational literacy, numeracy, vocational skills, and continuing education for individuals aged 15 and above.
Q11: How many learners have benefited from ULLAS?
A: Over two crore learners and 39 lakh volunteer teachers have registered, and nearly 89 lakh learners have been certified as literate.
Scholarship & Financial Support
Q12: What is the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)?
A: NMMSS provides scholarships of ₹12,000 annually to economically weaker students to prevent dropouts after Class VIII.
Q13: How many students benefited from NMMSS in 2023-24?
A: Around 2,50,089 students received scholarships, with a total expenditure of ₹300.10 crore.
Inclusive Education & CWSN (Children with Special Needs)
Q14: What support does Samagra Shiksha provide for Children with Special Needs (CWSN)?
A: The scheme offers identification and assessment, aids and appliances, braille kits, stipends for girls with disabilities, and accessible school infrastructure, including ramps and CWSN-friendly toilets.
Q15: What is Prashast, and how does it help CWSN?
A: Prashast is a disability screening checklist and mobile app that helps in the early identification of children with disabilities for proper intervention.
PARAKH & National Assessment
Q16: What is PARAKH, and why is it important?
A: PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) is a national assessment body under NCERT that standardizes student evaluation across school boards and conducts large-scale learning assessments like PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan.
Q17: What was the scale of the 2024 PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan?
A: The survey covered 23 lakh students from around 88,000 schools, assessing foundational, preparatory, and middle-stage learning outcomes.
Other Key Initiatives
Q18: What is the APAAR ID?
A: APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) is a unique ID system that tracks students’ academic progress and facilitates credit transfer. Over seven crore APAAR IDs have been generated.
Q19: What is the role of Eco Clubs under Mission LiFE?
A: Eco Clubs promote environmental awareness through activities like reducing plastic use, tree plantation, and waste management, with 1.46 lakh new Eco Clubs established in 2024-25.
Q20: How many new KVs & JNVs have been approved?
A: 85 new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and 28 new Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) have been approved for uncovered districts.
