The government is committed to providing quality education, says Annpurna Devi, the Union minister of state for education. Source: Pixabay
Over 95% of villages in the country have secondary schools within a distance of five kilometres, said Annpurna Devi, the Union minister of state for education.
Devi also informed the Lok Sabha that more than 90% of villages have senior secondary schools within a distance of seven kilometres.
The minister asserted that the government is committed to providing quality education by enhancing the standard of education and school infrastructure in the country, including in rural areas.
"As per the Geographic Information System (GIS) based mapping conducted in 2021-22 on government, government-aided and private schools, 95.48% of villages were covered by secondary schools within a distance of five kilometres and 90.55% of villages were covered by senior secondary schools within a distance of seven kilometres," she added.
The minister said a number of initiatives have been taken by the central government to improve the standard of school education, including the 'Samagra Shiksha' scheme which has been aligned to the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The 'Samagra Shiksha' is a centrally-sponsored integrated scheme extending from pre-school to Class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.
It focuses on improvement in the quality of education by providing support for different interventions like in-service training of teachers and school heads, conduct of achievement surveys, composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for library, sports and physical activities, etc., she further said.