With reference to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 374 raised by Shri V. Vijayasai Reddy, the Minister of Education, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank revealed important statistics regarding up-gradation of schools in the country. As per the official records published in the PQARS portal in response to the Rajya Sabha question in concern, 50 schools has been approved for an upgrade from Upper Primary to Secondary while 54 schools have been approved for an upgrade from Primary to Upper Primary by the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Education is the apex body governing the educational reforms in India. It is empowered to approve the up-gradation of schools from Upper Primary level to Secondary level or from Primary level to Upper Primary level. The Education Ministry performs such activities under established schemes notably the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana and Samagra Siksha.
Shri Reddy requested the Minister to clarify whether 25 Government Secondary & Senior Secondary schools in the state of Andhra Pradesh have been approved by the Education Ministry for an upgrade to smart schools under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. In response, the Education Minister clarified in this official statements that no schools have been approved by the Ministry of Education for an upgrade to smart schools under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, as reported by concerned states.
The question was also raised regarding no schools being approved for upgradation from Upper Primary to Secondary and Primary to Upper Primary in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Whereas, some Government schools in other states have been upgraded in a similar manner.
In response to the query, the Education Minister clarified that approval for the upgrade of Government schools under Samagra Siksha is done on the basis of proposals received from concerned State Government/UT Governments. In addition, the Minister also annexed the details of the state-wise number of schools approved for upgradation from Upper Primary to Secondary under Samagra Siksha.
As per the records, no schools in Andhra Pradesh have been approved by the Ministry of Education for an upgrade from Upper Primary to Secondary under Samagra Siksha in the year 2020-21. However, in certain states, the Ministry has approved such upgrades. Uttar Pradesh stands at the top position with 23 schools approved by the Ministry of Education. At the second position stands the state of Karnataka with 7 schools approved for an upgrade from Upper Primary to Secondary level in 2020-2021. Readers can get the official statements from the PQARS portal at pqars.nic.in.
