SRINAGAR: Nearly 435 SHRI Schools (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India) in Jammu and Kashmir will showcase all components of the National Education Policy 2020 besides offering mentorship to other schools in their vicinity.
“These schools will act as exemplar schools with upgraded infrastructure, innovative pedagogy, and technology”.
Pertinently, PM SHRI Schools is a new scheme envisaging the development of more than 14500 schools across the country by strengthening selected existing schools being managed by Union, State, and UT Governments besides local bodies. These schools will provide leadership to other schools in their respective regions by providing mentorship.
The PM SHRI schools will deliver quality teaching for the cognitive development of students and will strive to create and nurture holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with key 21st-century skills.
This ambitious scheme of PM SHRI schools is to be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a total project cost of Rs 27360 crore which included a central share of Rs 18128 crores for the period of five years from the year 2022-23 to 2026-27.
The PM SHRI Schools will be developed as green schools incorporating environment-friendly aspects like solar panels and LED lights, nutrition gardens with natural farming, waste management, plastic-free, water conservation, and harvesting, the study of traditions/practices related to protection of the environment, climate change related hackathon and awareness generation to adopt a sustainable lifestyle.
Also, the pedagogy to be adopted in these schools will be more experiential, holistic, integrated, play/toy-based (particularly, in the foundational years) inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centered, discussion-based, flexible, and enjoyable. The focus will be on the learning outcomes of every child in every grade. Assessment at all levels will be based on conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to real-life situations and will be competency-based.
Assessment of available resources and their effectiveness in terms of availability, adequacy, appropriateness, and utilization for each of the domains and their key performance indicators will be done and gaps will be filled in a systematic and planned manner. besides, linkage with Sector Skill Councils and local industry for enhancing employability and providing better employment opportunities will be explored through the scheme.
A School Quality Assessment Framework (SQAF) has been developed specifying the key performance indicators to measure outcomes. Quality evaluation of these schools at regular intervals will be undertaken to ensure the desired standards.
The major interventions of the scheme are Quality and Innovation (Learning Enhancement Programme, Holistic Progress Card, Innovative Pedagogies, Bagless days, Internships with Local artisans, Capacity building, etc.) besides Beneficiary oriented entitlements under RTE Act. besides, 100 percent of PM SHRI Schools will receive Science and Math Kits.
The scheme will also encourage flexibility in the choice of subjects being offered to students and will encourage mother tongue/local languages as a medium of instruction using technological interventions to help bridge language barriers. Likewise, 100 percent of PM SHRI Schools will be covered under ICT, smart classrooms, and digital initiatives.
Regarding the strengthening of existing infrastructure, the scheme will help vocational interventions and enhance internship/entrepreneurship opportunities, especially with local industry besides mapping skills with developmental projects/nearby industries and developing courses/curriculum accordingly.
Also, the selection of PM SHRI schools is being done through Challenge Mode where Schools compete for support to become exemplary schools. Schools would be required to self-apply on the online portal which will be opened four times a year, once every quarter, for the first two years of the scheme.
