Restore schools as vibrant institutions: Pradhan

Union Education Minister Dharmedra Pradhan on Friday emphasised the need to restore schools as vibrant institutions rooted in society and said reducing learning gaps and drop-outs and fostering design thinking and critical skills in every child is a collective responsibility. He made these comments at a consultation meeting with stakeholders of the Centre’s Samagra Shiksha scheme here.

Elaborating on the role of the community, the Minister said that while the responsibility for systems and salaries must remain with the Government, the ownership and operation of schools must involve society at large.

“The Government must take responsibility for systems and salaries. But the responsibility of running schools should belong to society. As we move towards a new framework of Samagra Shiksha, we must collectively think about how to make this possible and restore schools as vibrant institutions rooted in society,” he said.

The Minister underlined the need for meaningful transformation across multiple components of school education, including improving learning outcomes, strengthening nutrition outcomes, reducing examination burden, simplifying learning processes, ensuring 100 per cent enrolment up to Class 12, promoting holistic school development, and effectively leveraging technology and digitisation.

“To meaningfully convert these components into outcomes, we must once again return schools to society. India is now preparing to move towards a new framework of Samagra Shiksha in 2026-27, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat.

The biggest challenge before us today is to build an education system and human resources that are aligned with the aspirations of a developed India,” he said.

Pradhan noted that a large section of India’s population places high expectations on Samagra Shiksha, and that states across the country have accumulated valuable experiences and best practices in using education as a tool to build a more just and equitable society.

“All states have their own experiences and best practices. These must come together to strengthen Samagra Shiksha and respond to the aspirations of our people,” he added.

The consultation meeting brought together key stakeholders to deliberate on the future direction of Samagra Shiksha and to ensure that the evolving framework responds effectively to India’s educational and developmental goals.

“Reducing learning gaps, reducing drop-outs, improving learning and nutrition outcomes, capacity building of teachers, fostering design thinking and critical skills in every child, bringing our ‘Amrit Peedhi’ out of the Macaulay Mindset and nurturing a human capital for Viksit Bharat is a collective responsibility,” Pradhan said.

Samagra Shiksha - an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12, aims at improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes. It subsumes the three schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).