News Analysis India

Tag: Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

  • Centre’s new scheme targets basic literacy, numeracy by Class 3

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday launched an initiative with an aim to ensure that every child in India necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Class III, by 2026-27.

    The scheme called National Initiative for Proficiency in reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat is set to be implemented by the school education department of the Centre. 

    The government said a five-tier implementation mechanism will be set up across national, state, district, block, and school levels in all states.

    The new scheme is going to be part of the flagship school education programme, Samagra Shiksha, according to the Union Education Ministry. The government said it has already provided states with a fund of Rs 2688.18 crore for the implementation of the various interventions of the foundational stage in 2021-22 under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan.

    A statement by the ministry said the initiative will focus on providing access and retaining children in foundational years of schooling, teacher capacity building, development of high quality and diversified student and teacher resources, learning materials and tracking the progress of each child in achieving learning outcomes.

    Launching the scheme, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said the programme aims to cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years, adding that teachers will need to focus on every child for developing basic language, literacy and numeracy skills which will help them develop into better readers and writers.

    It envisages making the experience of learning at the foundational stage holistic, integrated, inclusive, enjoyable, and engaging, said the minister. The success of NIPUN Bharat, the statement said, will depend on teachers, so, there will be a special emphasis on the capacity building of teachers.

  • Guidelines for parents on home-based learning

    By Express News Service
    CHENNAI:  As schools reopen for the academic year again on virtual mode, the Union Education Ministry released guidelines for parents and caregivers on how to support children and facilitate their home-based learning at a time when schools are closed due to Covid-19. 

    The guidelines talk about simple activities that caregivers can adapt to contexts and use of art and activities as tools for both learning and therapy.

    They can be found on https://www.education.gov.in/en.

    Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, in a tweet, said: “I strongly feel that a home is the first school and parents, the first teachers. In this pandemic, the role of parents is pivotal in the growth and learning of children.” 

    He added that the document – Guidelines for parent participation in home-based learning during school closure and beyond – has been drafted “for parents and caregivers to provide information on the ‘why’, ‘what’, and ‘how-to’ of participation in supporting children during school closure.”

    Parents and other caregivers need to create a safe, engaging, and positive learning-environment for children, the guidelines emphasised, adding that they should have realistic expectations from them. The activities suggested in the guidelines are in accordance with the various stages of school education under National Education Policy 2020, a statement by the ministry said.

    Age-appropriate activities have been categorized on basis of 5+3+3+4 system such as Foundation Stage (age 3 to 8years); Preparatory Stage (age 8 to 11 years); Middle Stage (age 11 to 14 years); and secondary stage: From Adolescent to Adult (age 14-18 years).

    The guidelines advise schools to engage parents by providing information and ideas on helping students with homework, other related activities and school decisions.

  • Priyanka Gandhi writes to Education Minister, advocates not holding Class 12 board exams

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday wrote to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and advocated not holding Class 12 board exams amid the pandemic, saying children will be subjected to great injustice if they are pushed into circumstances that endanger their lives.

    In her letter to the minister, Priyanka Gandhi shared the suggestions she received from several students and parents who had interacted with her on the matter in the past few days.

    After a high-level meeting on May 23, the minister had said that there was a broad consensus among states about conducting Class 12 board exams and an “informed, collaborative” decision would be taken by June 1.

    In a tweet, Priyanka Gandhi said, “I have written to the Minister of Education summarising numerous suggestions I received from students, parents and teachers regarding the 12th standard CBSE exams. Their voice must be heard.”

    Noting that it is the government’s responsibility and duty to protect them, she said, “I once again urge you to reconsider holding the CBSE 12th board exams and to consider the above suggestions made by them very, very seriously.”

    “It will be a great injustice if they are pushed into circumstances that endanger their lives when it is completely unnecessary and it will be a great pity if we let them down at this trying time in their lives,” she added.

    The Congress leader has been pushing for not holding board exams for Class 12 and has suggested several ways to hold assessment or open book exams from students at home.

    “It is cruel and heartless to expect these children not only to study and perform well in the board exams, but even more so to subject themselves to crowded exam centres at which there is no guarantee for their health and safety,” she told the minister.

    She said experts have repeatedly stated that a third wave is imminent and have warned that it might be more perilous for children and teenagers.

    She noted that it is undeniable that children will collect in large numbers in exam centres across India if these exams are to be held and it is quite possible that the beginning of another wave might develop from these circumstances.

    The Congress general secretary said uncountable children are suffering from trauma, anxiety and depression already and many have written to her saying how helpless and bereft they feel.

    “They have been in this state of limbo for months now, struggling to cope with disease, deaths of people around them and circumstances that would have been unimaginable for any of us just two years ago.

    It is unfair to prolong this decision any further and to cause them even more stress when it is entirely avoidable,” she said.

  • BJP to meet Wednesday to pick Trivendra Rawat’s replacement; multiple names in consideration

    By PTI
    DEHRADUN: Names of at least half a dozen leaders, including Dhan Singh Rawat, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Satpal Maharaj, are doing the rounds to replace Trivendra Singh Rawat, who resigned as the chief minister of Uttarakhand on Tuesday.

    Though Trivendra Singh Rawat’s substitute will be decided at a state legislature party meeting at the BJP headquarters here on Wednesday under the watch of party national vice-president and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, political circles are abuzz with speculations.

    Sources said state minister Dhan Singh Rawat has emerged as a frontrunner to be the next chief minister.

    A man known for his polite ways, 48-year-old Dhan Singh, a resident of Paithani village in Pauri district, is said to be close to the outgoing chief minister.

    Singh became an MLA for the first time in 2017.

    Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj is also being looked at as a prominent contender.

    A former Congress heavyweight, Maharaj joined the BJP in 2014 after losing the race for chief ministership to Harish Rawat.

    Maharaj is an MLA from Chaubattakhal in Pauri district.

    He is also a spiritual guru having admirers across the country.

    The 69-year-old had been a Congress MP from Pauri in the past.

    Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is another contender for the post.

    A former chief minister, Nishank is an MP from Haridwar.

    He was also a hill development minister in undivided Uttar Pradesh.

    The name of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is also doing the rounds.

    Koshyari had held the Uttarkhand chief minister’s post briefly after Nityanand Swami.

    He has also represented the state both in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

    Names of BJP national spokesperson Anil Baluni and former state BJP president Ajay Bhatt are also in circulation.

    Baluni (50) is currently a Rajya Sabha member and his proximity with the central party leadership may help him get to the top office in the state.

    Bhatt represents the Nainital constituency in the Lok Sabha.

    He had defeated former chief minister Harish Rawat in Nainital in the 2019 general elections.