Education for Orphans
Education is a subject in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the control of the respective State Governments. Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education is implementing Samagra Shiksha to support States and UTs in implementation of the RTE Act, 2009. Samagra Shiksha envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels. Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of Samagra Shiksha.
To facilitate education for children orphaned due to COVID-19, DoSEL and Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) have issued a joint letter dated 16.06.2021 to all States and UTs for bringing orphaned children under the fold of the various schemes run by this Department, and outlining the role of teachers, District Education Officers and Child Welfare Committees in ensuring continuity of education for such children.
Additionally, in pursuance to ‘PM CARES for Children Scheme’ which supports children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian or adoptive parents due to COVID-19 pandemic, all States and UTs have been requested to see that all benefits and entitlements of Samagra Shiksha as per the existing norms may be provided to the children registered for the said scheme and admitted in schools covered under Samagra Shiksha. Further, instructions have been issued to the Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan for admission of orphaned children, over and above the sanctioned class strength at the rate of 10 children per Kendriya Vidyalaya subject to maximum of two children per class.
MWCD has been entrusted with the responsibility of anchoring the PM CARES for Children Scheme which is accessible through an online portal i.e. pmcaresforchildren.in. Any citizen can inform the administration regarding a child eligible for support under this scheme through the portal. MWCD has directed States and UTs to identify children eligible for support under the PM CARES for children scheme and register them on the portal.
The information was given by the Minister of State for Education, Smt. Annpurna Devi in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
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