Books for madrasas if they adopt curriculum
and large-print books are provided to all girls as well as SC/ST children at the primary and upper-primary levels at a ceiling of ~150 per head. This has been enhanced to ~250 per child at the primary level, and ~400 per child at the upper-primary level.
A provision for extension to senior secondary schools (class 11 and 12) has been made for the first time under the integrated scheme, and preference will be given to composite institutions. A provision has also been made to support efforts of the state government in setting up pre-nursery schools.
Besides this, a provision has been made for students of classes 6 to 8 to procure tablets, laptops, notepads and integrated learning devices under digital and information and communications technology initiatives.
“This will include support for digital boards, smart classrooms, virtual classrooms and DTH channels on a pro-rata basis for number of schools approved,” the document detailing the new norms stated.
“This is a very good step by the Centre. Madrasas across the country provide elementary education to lakhs of children, and are largely dependent on charity or aid from other organisations. The only important issue is: The other subjects can be taught but the basic curriculum of these institutions should not be touched,” said Masoom Moradabadi, a member of the Delhi Minorities Commission’s advisory committee.
Last month, the cabinet had approved the integration of the SSA, RMSA and STE from 2018-19. The budgets of the three schemes have also been combined, with the Centre providing funds on a 60:40 sharing basis to most states and 90:10 to northeastern states as well as three Himalayan states (including Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh). While the states currently submit separate plans for each of these schemes, the new programme envisages a single plan for the entire school education sector.