Ministry of Education is celebrating Shikshak Parv this year from 7^th to 17^th September 2021. Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has inaugurated a one-day Conclave on 7^th September through a video conference. The Ministry of Education is celebrating the event to recognize the valuable contribution of teachers during Covid 19, and to initiate innovative steps to implement National Education Policy effectively. The theme of the event is Quality and Sustainable Schools: Learning from Schools in India.

In his address to the Conclave, he recognized the contribution of the teachers as teachers faced lots of challenges during the pandemic in terms of teaching but they resolved them by online classes, group video calls, and online exams which shows that the education sector in India is full of capabilities. He stressed the fact that the changing era requires teachers to get familiar with new systems and techniques rapidly so that they can be prepared for new changes. To make the Indian education sector World-class, we have to redefine and redesign the teaching-learning process.

Key Initiatives in the Education sector in India:

Indian Sign Language Dictionary:

• Audio and text embedded sign language video for the hearing impaired, aligned with Universal design of learning.

Talking Books:

• Videos for visually impaired

School Quality Assurance and Assessment Framework of CBSE:

• Address the deficiencies in the common scientific framework in areas like curricula, pedagogy, assessment, infrastructure, inclusive practices, and governance process.
• To help teachers recognize the complexities and gaps in teaching students, The School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) will be useful.

Nishtha teachers’ training program for NIPUN BHARAT:

• Improving learning outcomes at the elementary level through the teacher training program.
• Training teachers to adopt Activity Based Learning and move away from rote learning to competency-based learning.
• Transformation of the heads of schools for providing academic and administrative leadership in the schools for fostering new initiatives.
• The objective of NIPUN BHARAT is to ensure every child in the country essentially gets foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.

Vidyanjali 2.0- A School Volunteer Program:

• To support and strengthen schools across the country through community and private sector involvement.
• It has two objectives– Participate in school service/ Activity and Asset/Material/Equipment where volunteers can support the schools.

National Digital Architecture:

• National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) is a unifying national digital infrastructure to energize and catalyze the education ecosystem.
• The NEP 2020 emphasizes the use of emerging technologies like AI/ ML/ AR/ VR/ MR and DLT, NDEAR is meant to keep pace with changing and emerging technologies.  

The key initiatives in the education sector would certainly help improve and reform the quality of the education system. It would also transform the teachers’ performance by motivating them to learn new technologies so that they can participate in building students’ future and prepare themselves for a fast-changing era.

These multiple schemes at the inaugural conclave of ‘Shikshak Parv’ to remove inequality in the education system and benefit students. With the new initiative, people from different sectors can also participate in supporting and educating students.