‘New India Literacy Programme’ approved by the Center
[GS Paper 2 – Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors]
The Central government has approved the ‘New India Literacy Programme’ for financial years 2022-27 which will now cover all aspects of Adult Education in the country, in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. ‘Adult Education’ will now be called ‘Education For All’. It is being implemented by the Ministry of Education.
Objective of the Programme
- The New India Literacy Programme aims to impart foundational literacy and numeracy, critical life skills like financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, healthcare and awareness, child care and education and family welfare; vocational skills, basic education and continuing education.
- The scheme is being prepared to be imparted online. Three crore students of around 7 lakh schools registered under UDISE (Unified District Information System for Education) and around 50 lakh teachers of government, aided and private schools will participate as volunteers.
- Around 20 lakh students from teacher education and higher education institutions will be actively involved as volunteers. The Ministry stated that Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, PRIs; and around 50 lakh NYSK, NSS and NCC workers will extend their support to the programme.
What is NEP 2020?
- The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2020 which aimed to introduce several changes in the Indian Education system – right from the school level to the college level.
- The NEP 2020 aims at making “India a global knowledge superpower”. It was with this decision that the Ministry of Human Resource Development was renamed to the Ministry of Education.
- The New Education Policy aims to provide an inclusive, participatory and holistic approach, which takes into consideration field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices.
DO YOU KNOW?
The NEP cleared by the Cabinet is only the third major revamp of the framework of education in India since independence. The two earlier education policies were brought in 1968 and 1986.
The number of non-literates in the country in the age group of 15 years and above was 25.76 crore (9.08 crore male and 16.68 crore female) according to the 2011 census. Currently, an estimated 18.12 crore adults in the country are illiterate.
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