To improve quality of education in the country, union minister for human resource development Smriti Irani on Tuesday launched ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ programme which focuses on early reading, writing and comprehension and early grade mathematics.
 
At the inauguration of conference of state education secretaries held here, Irani requested education secretaries to roll out this programme in their respective states so that children in early grades acquire proficiency in writing, reading and comprehension. A statement from the ministry said, this would enable them to progress to higher classes with the confidence of good education. During 2014-15, ₹2,352.57 crore has been allocated to States/UTs for improvement of quality programmes.
 
Teacher’s education
 
To improve the quality of teacher’s education and their training, states have been asked to focus on the quality outcome. Out of 247 universities, which either have department of education or run B.ed colleges, only 69 have revised their curriculum based on national curriculum in the last five years.
 
Toilets in schools
 
According to the ministry’s data, 50 percent of schools without toilet or with dysfunctional toilets are located in states – Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar. The ministers requested states to prepare an action plan for construction of toilets in all government schools so that the vision and goal set by the prime minister  Shri Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech for providing all government schools with toilets within one year becomes a reality.
 
According to government estimates, for a typical design at elementary level, a toilet would cost Rs 1.3 lakh and Rs 2.7 lakh for the one created at secondary level and separate amount for water connection.
 
The minister also launched a publication ‘Including Children with Special Needs – Primary Stage’ on curriculum adaptation development brought out by NCERT. This would help teachers create an inclusive classroom environment for children with special needs, the statement added.
Irani added that though considerable progress was made in bringing such children into regular schools, providing a truly inclusive education remained an unfinished agenda for which everyone would have to work harder.