Ensuring ‘Education for All’ Through
- India is grappling with a major literacy issue, as revealed by the Census 2011. There are 25.76 crore individuals aged 15 and above who are non-literate. This includes 9.08 crore males and 16.68 crore females. Despite the strides made by the Saakshar Bharat programme, which certified 7.64 crore individuals as literate between 2009-10 and 2017-18, there are still an estimated 18.12 crore adults in India who remain non-literate. This substantial number highlights the critical need to address the education gap and work towards universal literacy.
ULLAS - A Step Towards Literate India:
- ULLAS - Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram, or the New India Literacy Programme (NILP), is a centrally sponsored initiative that aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. This programme aims to empower adults aged 15 and above from all backgrounds who missed out on formal education, helping them integrate into society and contribute to national development. ULLAS focuses on providing functional literacy, including reading, writing, and numeracy skills, and equips learners with essential life skills to promote lifelong learning. Implemented through volunteerism, ULLAS encourages social responsibility and a sense of duty (‘Kartavya Bodh’), motivating learners to access educational content in regional languages via the DIKSHA Portal and the ULLAS mobile app. Certificates awarded to learners and volunteer teachers enhance confidence and motivation, driving continuous progress.
About ULLAS-Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram:
Introduction:
- ULLAS stands for Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society and is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented from 2022 to 2027.
- The programme aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommendations.
Objective:
- To empower adults aged 15 years and above from all backgrounds who missed formal schooling.
- To integrate them into society, enabling them to contribute significantly to the country's growth.
Components of the Scheme:
- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
- Critical Life Skills
- Basic Education
- Vocational Skills
- Continuing Education
Implementation:
- The ULLAS app facilitates the registration of learners and volunteers through self-registration or by surveyors.
- It serves as a digital gateway for learners to engage with diverse learning resources available on the DIKSHA portal of NCERT.
What is the DIKSHA Portal?
Overview:
- DIKSHA is a national platform for school education, an initiative by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), under the Ministry of Education.
- It offers e-content for schools through an online portal and a mobile application.
Principles:
- Developed on core principles of open architecture, open access, open licensing, choice, and autonomy.
- Built on open-source technology, it is designed for India and incorporates internet-scale technologies, allowing a variety of use cases and solutions for teaching and learning.
Features:
- DIKSHA's core building blocks include many components of the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), enabling successful use-cases such as energized textbooks, online courses, content authoring, content sourcing, interactive quizzes, question banks, chatbots, analytics, and dashboards.
- To support teaching and learning for Children With Special Needs (CWSN), a significant number of audiobooks, Indian Sign Language (ISL) videos, and a dictionary are available on DIKSHA for CWSN.
Prelims Takeaway
- Education related initiatives