With an aim to bridge the learning gaps in students who have not attained grade level competencies in English, Hindi and Maths, a learning Enhancement Programme (lEP) has been implemented in Haryana.
Haryana Chief Secretary, DS Dhesi presiding over the 42nd meeting of the Executive Committee of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on Wednesday and said that the lEP has been rolled out in 3,222 Government primary schools in the State.
In the first hour of the school day, teachers would use learning enhancement programme material specially created for the purpose with detailed lesson plans. These would cover foundational or critical competencies of previous grades. In these special classes, Maths and Hindi have already been covered and classes for English will start this month for which study material has been printed and supplied to the districts.
According to the last year’s monthly assessment report of the Department, more than 70 percent students of classes III, V, VI, VIII could not score 50 percent or more marks in English. What’s worse, only 23 percent students in class VI, 28 percent students in class VII and 30 percent in class VIII in the entire State manage to score 50 per cent or more in Mathematics. The students had also failed to perform well in other subjects including Hindi, Environment Studies, Social Science and Science.
Meanwhile, Dhesi said that out of the 25 Kasturba Gandhi Schools being run in ten districts of the State, three are day boarding. Besides, two
such schools would be opened soon, one in Sirsa and another in Kaithal.
Under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ Programme, girls studying in government middle and high schools are being provided a special platform, namely ‘Balika Manch’, to voice their issues and opinions. This Manch is being provided in 5,268 schools where they can voice their feelings without any hesitation. Besides, under this programme, NCC, NSS, Scout and Guide students would also be roped in to encourage drop–out girls to school, said the Chief Secretary.
He said that Management Information System was being run in the state under the name ‘Parivartan’. In the first phase, data of schools and 22 lakh students has been made online. For financial year 2015-16 of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Centre has approved a budget of `1,120 crore, out of which total expenditure till November 2015 aggregated `455 crore.
During the meeting, he directed the Additional Deputy Commissioners to ensure smooth functioning of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.