On January 10, 2021, the Ministry of Education (MoE) issued guidelines for identification, admission and continued education of migrant children for States and UTs during school closure and when the school re-open. These were issued to mitigate the COVID-19 impact for Out of School Children (OoSC).
- This will act as a strategy to prevent increased drop outs, lower enrolments, loss of learning and deterioration.
- The guidelines will also ensure that school going children have access to education with quality and minimize the impact of the pandemic on school education across the country.
The guidelines are classified into 6 parts viz:
- Continued Education for OoSC and Children with Special Needs (CWSN) through volunteers, local teachers and community participation
- Identifying OoSC Children for 6 to 18 years age to prepare action plan for their enrolment.
- Enrolment Drives and Awareness Generation
- Student Support while Schools are closed
- Student Support on School Reopening
- Teacher Capacity Building
Key Points from Guidelines:
Continued Education for Out of School Children (OoSC) and Children with Special Needs (CWSN)
–Continuation of non-residential training for identified Out of School children through volunteers, local teachers and community participation.
–Continuation of home based education for CWSN children through Volunteers/ Special Educators.
 Identifying Out of School Children
–States and UTs to carry out proper identification of OoSC for 6 to 18 years age group through a comprehensive door to door survey and prepare action plan for their enrolment
Enrolment Drives and Awareness Generation
–To undertake enrolment drives at the beginning of academic year such as Praveshotsav, School Chalo Abhiyan etc. to raise awareness among parents and community for enrolling and attendance of children.
–Create awareness on practicing 3 Corona appropriate behaviors – wear mask, six-feet distance and washing hands with soap for which IEC material shared on 06.11.2020 with the States & UTs.
Student Support while Schools are closed
–Using Manodarpan web portal and tele-counseling number students should be provised counseling services and psycho-social support.
–Distribution of educational material and resources, supplementary graded material, workshops, worksheets etc to support home-based education.
–Exploring option of classroom on wheels and classes in small groups at village level
–Increasing the access of children to online/digital resources, TV Radio etc. to reduce learning loss
–Timely access to the provisions of uniforms, textbooks and MDM
–Timely disbursement of stipend to enrolled CWSN girls through DBT
Student Support on School Reopening
–Large-scale remedial programmes/Learning Enhancement programmes to mitigate learning loss and inequality.
Teacher Capacity Building
–Effective utilization of the online NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement) training modules and online training module for Corona responsive behavior to be launched on DIKSHA portal soon.
— Preparation and running of School readiness modules/Bridge course for initial period when the schools re-open so that they can adjust to the school environment and do not feel stressed or left-out.
Additional info:
–A total of 320 million learners in India have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
–India has the world’s second-largest school system, after China.
–COVID-19 enhanced the online education system. Government is also emphasizing policies that bridge the digital divide.
–Fewer than 15% of rural Indian households have internet access (as opposed to 42% urban Indian households). A mere 13% of people surveyed (aged above five) in rural areas — just 8.5% of females — could use the internet.
Recent Related News:
i.Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) & British Council signed an 1st-its-kind, 3-years Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase bilateral cooperation in higher education sector.
ii.On December 10, 2020 The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) signed MoU with BYJU’S to support the skilling of teachers and trainers.
About Ministry of Education:
The Ministry of Education was formerly known as the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD).
Union Minister – Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
Headquarters – New Delhi
