Page 704 - ES 2020-21_Volume-1-2 [28-01-21]

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10.8 The age specific attendance ratio (ASAR) indicates the proportion of children of
a particular age group actually attending schools/colleges irrespective of the level or class
in which they are studying. Children in the age-group of 6-13 years have reported almost
95 per cent and above attendance across States (Table 5). But the attendance rate in the early
childhood education, which the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 emphasises on is low
and diverging irrespective of the achievement in education status of the States concerned.
While Punjab reported a high attendance rate of 61.6 per cent of the children in the age groups
of 3-5 years (i.e. early childhood education), Karnataka reports the lowest attendance rate
of only 18.3 per cent. In the 14-17 years age group, which covers the secondary and higher
secondary education level, the attendance rates are low as compared to national average in
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. In the 18-23 years age bracket, which
comprises students pursuing higher education, Kerala and the hilly States have reported higher
attendance compared to rest of India.

10.9 The efforts made by the Government to provide quality education in schools and institutions
of the government in affordable and competitive manner are given in Box 1. The government
announced the new National Education Policy, 2020 replacing the 34 year old National Policy
on Education, 1986. The new policy aims to pave the way for transformational reforms in school
and higher education systems in the country (Box 2). It aims to provide all students, irrespective
of their place of residence, quality education system with special focus on the marginalised,
disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.

Box 1: Programmes and Schemes for School Education during 2020-21

Samagra Shiksha, an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-
school to class 12, is being implemented with the broader goal of improving school effectiveness
measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes. The vision
of the Scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-school to senior
secondary stage in accordance with the SDG for Education. The main outcomes of the Scheme
are envisaged as Universal Access, Equity and Quality including Vocational Education, Inclusive
Education, increased use of Technology and strengthening of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).
The scheme was launched in 2018-19 with the following major features:
Holistic approach to education: Treat school education holistically as a continuum from Pre-school
to Class 12 with inclusion of support for senior secondary levels and pre-school levels for the first time.
Focus on Quality of Education:
• Enhanced focus on improving quality of education and learning outcomes by focus on the two
T’s – Teachers and Technology.
• Enhanced Capacity Building of Teachers and School Heads, BRC, CRCs.
• Focus on strengthening Teacher Education Institutions like SCERTs and DIETs to improve the
quality of prospective teachers in the system.
• Annual Grant per school for strengthening of Libraries: Library grant of ` 5,000 to ` 20,000/-.
• Support for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan to promote Science and Math learning.