Education foundation of developed society: Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, ET Education
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Gandhinagar: Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel stated that education is the foundational pillar of a developed society and a progressive state. He emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always given special importance to schools, teachers, and education.On the second day of the Kanya KelavMahotsav and Shala Praveshotsav 2025, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of Ashadhi Beej, Chief Minister Patel visited the Primary School in Pundrasan village, Gandhinagar district. He welcomed 197 children into the school by gifting them educational kits. The Chief Minister also interacted affectionately with the young children, encouraging them to pursue learning with enthusiasm, said release.CM highlighted that to raise awareness about the importance and necessity of education and to build an educated future generation in Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi launched the statewide Shala Praveshotsav initiative in 2003. As a result of this sustained effort, parents and communities today have come to deeply understand and value the role of education.The Chief Minister stated that the Gujarat Government has launched several education-focused schemes to ensure no child is deprived of schooling due to financial challenges. He urged parents to utilise these schemes and take responsibility for their children's education. He noted that government schools are now equipped with modern facilities, such as smart classrooms, and that improved teaching methods have led many students to shift from private to government schools. The Chief Minister also highlighted that communities are actively working to promote education, with the state government extending full support to such efforts.The Chief Minister emphasised that teachers and School Management Committees (SMCs) should work with dedication and thoughtful planning to transform their village schools into model institutions by enhancing the quality of education. He also urged parents to ensure that their children attend school regularly and to provide active support for their learning. He stated that these children represent the future generation of Gujarat and will play a vital role in building a Viksit Bharat through a Viksit Gujarat.Chief Minister Patel welcomed 197 children into school at Pundrasan Primary School, including 53 from Anganwadi, 54 from Balvatika, 48 from Class 1, and 42 from Classes 8-9. He also felicitated nine outstanding students for their excellence at various levels. He also visited the school's smart classroom, planted a tree, and heard inspiring speeches from students on girls' education and social upliftment.The event was attended by Gandhinagar South MLA Shri Alpesh Thakor, District Education Committee Chairperson Hansaben Patel, Pundrasan village Sarpanch Punaji Thakor, Gandhinagar District Collector Mehul Dave, District Development Officer Shri BJ Patel, and other officials, villagers, and students.
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Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Kanya Kelavani-Shala Praveshotsav: Getting potential drop-outs back to school— has Gujarat aced the test with its enrolment drive?
At a government-run school in Maninagar, Minister of State for Co-operation, Jagdish Vishwakarma, is leading the Kanya Kelavani-Shala Praveshotsav, a three-day statewide school enrolment drive. Students of Classes 9-12 took part in a quiz where they were asked: 'Fifty years back, an incident happened that was taken note of by the world, what was that?' 'Bandharan Hatya Divas' (Constitution Assassination Day)', a girl studying in Class 10 at Sri Ramkrishna Vidyalaya answered after two-three attempts by others. She got a silver idol of Lord Rama as a reward. The annual drive, which kicked off on Thursday, sees the chief minister, ministers, state and district officials travelling to urban and rural areas to encourage parents to enrol their children in schools. On Friday, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was at a government primary school in Gandhinagar's Pundrasan village, where he urged parents to ensure enrolment of their children in schools and avail the benefits of government schemes. When the drive started, Gujarat would record a nearly 40% drop-out rate in Classes 1-7. Launched by the then CM Narendra Modi, now the Prime Minister, in 2003-04, where his team of ministers and bureaucrats would lead enrolment drives in Class 1, the state's flagship initiative has over the years incorporated a technology-driven tracking of children by assigning them a unique identity through the Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK). This year, it is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to 'predict' drop-outs so that there could be specific interventions. The objective of the drive is to ensure no child, who is eligible to go to school, is left out. The focus this year has gradually shifted from primary to secondary and higher secondary schools. However, the disproportionate number of secondary and higher schools available for children from the economically weaker sections becomes a deterrent. For instance, against the 32,000 primary schools run by the government or municipal bodies, there are just 6,100 government-run or grant-in-aid schools for secondary and higher secondary sections. 'The focus this year is enrolment in Classes 9 and 10. Among the three government schools to be visited by officials on each day of the drive, two are secondary and higher secondary schools and one is primary,' Principal Secretary, Education, Mukesh Kumar, told The Indian Express. As per the Education department records, the drop-out rate of Classes 9 and 10 was 21 per cent in 2023-24 against 23.8 per cent in 2018-19 — a decline of only 2.8 per cent in five years. The reasons range from availability of schools in the neighbourhood, especially in case of girls; parents migrating for work to other districts to children aiding the family income by engaging in skill-based labour. 'After this success (decline in drop out rate in primary classes and increase in enrollment), it was also very necessary to reduce the drop-out rate in Classes 8 and 9. That is why the state government is intensively mapping all students of Class 8 for them to get admission in Class 9 and Class 10 for Class 11 admission through the VSK. Efforts are being made to get all such students admitted in the nearest government or aided secondary schools,' the state government said in a statement issued this week. The state government has set a target of getting 25.75 lakh students enrolled for the 2025-26 academic session. Of these, most (10.56 lakh) are eligible for admission in Class 9, 6.5 lakh for admission to Classes 10 and 11, and 8.75 lakh for admission in Class 1 and Balvatika (equivalent to nursery). Further, the Gujarat State Open School, an initiative to facilitate distance learning for secondary and higher secondary students, was revived this year and rules are being made 'student-friendly', government sources say. Children who dropped out after Class 8 are also being sought out and enrolled in Gujarat State Open School Board. Details of students enrolled in the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) are also being integrated with VSK for tracking. As per the state government records reiterated at every education programme and attributed as the 'success' of Shala Praveshotsav, the drop-out rate in Classes 1 to 5 has declined from 20.93 per cent in 2001-02 to 1.07 per cent in 2023-24. Also, the drop-out rate in Classes 1 to 8 was 37.22 per cent in 2001-02, which came down to 2.42 per cent in 2023-24. However, as per the AI-enabled Early Warning System (EWS) data accessed by The Indian Express, the potential dropouts identified for Classes 1-8 for the current academic year is 1.67 lakh from 50.42 lakh — of which 55 per cent are likely to be girl students. In its initial year, the data has been generated for Classes 1 to 8 which will be analysed and replicated for secondary and higher secondary classes, said government sources. As a statewide EWS predictive data of possible drop-outs has been generated for the first time this year, Banaskantha has the highest number at nearly 18,000 students, including a higher percentage for girls — at 60%. With over 15,300 students, Kutch is also among the top districts with the highest number of students who are likely to drop out of school, followed by the tribal district of Dahod and Surat city with nearly 12,000 students each. Ahmedabad city stands at 7,200, Jamnagar has over 6,700, Surendranagar at nearly 6,400, Rajkot with over 5,600, Morbi at over 5,500, Bhavnagar at over 5,600 and Chhota Udepur has nearly 5,200 such students. This was based on data sets recorded by the VSK on parameters like students' attendance, academic performance, behaviour patterns, economic background, migration, parents' mindset, number of children in the family, population, etc. Based on the AI-generated algorithm, such children are being monitored and before they drop-out, schools are informed so that authorities can take preventive actions. 'A sensible use of this data will help not only improve learning levels among children, but also their comprehensive growth. The VSK, which was started in Gujarat, has already been replicated in 17-18 states and funded by the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan,' Kumar told this paper. Experts and activists, however, question the lack of transparency in government records. Raising concerns, Sukhdev Patel an education activist from Ahmedabad, told this paper, 'The exercise of Shala Praveshotsav seems like drawing a target around the arrow after it was shot. The enrolment data should be made public and the manner in which it has been arrived at.' At the Pundrasan Government Primary school, CM Patel enrolled 197 children. He also appealed to the members of the School Management Committee to get more actively involved in the functioning of their respective schools. The SMCs were instituted in non-granted schools, as mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE), aimed at ensuring community participation in the governance and monitoring of elementary education. However, after it was revealed that a majority of such committees lie either only on paper or are defunct, the Gujarat government directed restructuring these decision-making bodies at government primary schools. As per a Gujarat government notification from 2011, in a 12-member SMC, 75% members should comprise parents of students, with weightage to be given to the economically weaker sections. Among the rest of the members, one should be from the elected wing , one teacher, one person nominated by the parents. One of the objectives of the committee is to seek out eligible children and enrol them in schools from the villages and the neighbourhood. On the reconstitution of SMCs, Principal Secretary Kumar said, 'Till the time we don't nudge them, how will they improve?' The first-ever restructuring of the SMCs across 32,800 government primary schools, since these were formed following the implementation of the Act in Gujarat, was followed by a virtual interaction between Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and the members of the SMC in April this year. To identify eligible children to be admitted in Class 1, data from the Health department from 2019 was integrated with the Education department's Child Tracking System (CTS). Further, birth record data from 2023-24 is also used for enrolling children in Balvatika. The TeCHO (Technology for Community Health Operations) app used to track vaccination of children has also been integrated with the CTS application to create pre-enrollment data. These details are then shared along with contact details of parents to the respective schools. VSK is also collecting details of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and of private pre-primary schools from 2023-24. This is used to identify children to be admitted in Balvatika and Class 1 and a list is prepared to ensure 100 per cent enrolment. From 2025-26, to ensure students are enrolled in their nearest government or grant-in-aid schools, primary school principals and CRC co-ordinators will be roped in. The Socio-Economic Review (SER) 2023-24 revealed that the number of primary schools declined by 1,027 in the last five years — from 45,315 (including private schools) in 2019-20 to 44,288 in 2023-24. This reflected in the decline of 7.67 lakh in enrolment in Classes 1 to 8 in primary schools — from 86.14 lakh to 78.47 lakh. While government primary schools in rural areas reportedly increased from 2,225 in 2019-20 to 2,310 in 2023-24, government or municipal bodies run schools in urban areas either closed or merged as they declined from 31,337 to 30,626 during this period. On the other hand, the number of secondary and higher secondary schools increased during the same period, from 12,445 to 13,037, including around 6,100 run by government or grant-in-aid schools. This, however, resulted in a decline in the total enrolment — from 28.67 lakh in 2019-20 to 27.41 lakh in 2023-24. While the total number of secondary and higher secondary schools increased, the number of only-girls secondary and higher secondary schools decreased from 594 to 576 in the last five years. Meanwhile, the drop-out rate in primary education in Gujarat from Class 1 to 5, which stood at 22.3 per cent in 1999-2000, was reduced to 1.04 per cent in 2022-23.
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a day ago
- India Gazette
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel visits Khavda Renewable Energy Park, reviews ongoing work
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], June 28 (ANI): Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday visited the site of the world's largest upcoming Hybrid Renewable Energy (RE) Park near Khavda and held a review meeting with representatives from various companies. On this occasion, he inspected the progress of solar and wind energy generation from the Central Control Room, reviewed the ongoing work with officials, and offered guidance to further advance the vision of green energy, said release. To pave the way for a Viksit Gujarat through green growth, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Renewable Energy (RE) Park near Khavda in December 2020. Spread across approximately 800 square kilometres of area, this under-construction park aims to generate 37 gigawatts of 100 per cent eco-friendly electricity by the year 2028. By 2028, the Khavda Renewable Energy Park is expected to supply electricity to approximately 1.85 crore households across the country. On this occasion, Rajendra Mistry, Chief Project Officer of Gujarat Power Corporation Limited, presented an overview of the work completed so far and the ongoing progress at the park. Notably, the Renewable Energy (RE) Park hosts power generation projects from both public and private sector companies, including National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC REL), Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (GIPCL), Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL), Adani Green Energy Limited, and Sarjan Realities Private Limited. During the visit, several dignitaries and officials were present, including Kutch Collector Anand Patel, Devjibhai Varchand, Ajay Sehgal from National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, Tirth Nath Singh, Project Head of the Adani Group, and Anil Musar, representative of Sarjan Realities Private Limited. (ANI)
India Gazette
a day ago
- India Gazette
Gujarat: CM stays overnight in remote, border village; interacts with villagers to encourage school enrollment
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], June 28 (ANI): As part of the Shala Praveshotsav - Kanya Kelavani Mahotsav, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has adopted a sensitive approach by staying overnight in remote and border-area villages to promote school enrollment among children. According to an official release, during his overnight stay, the Chief Minister held traditional 'khatla baithaks' with villagers, fostering community dialogue and embracing the spirit of rural life. During previous years' Shala Praveshotsav, Chief Minister Patel had stayed overnight in a rural area near the Madhya Pradesh border in Narmada district and in a village near the Maharashtra border in Dang district. He held interactive meetings with villagers and gathered insights about the developmental needs of these regions. On the third day of the 2025 Shala Praveshotsav, Saturday (June 28), Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel facilitated the enrollment of children in Kuran village, located near the India-Pakistan international border in Kutch district. Before leading the Shala Praveshotsav in Kuran, CM Patel arrived in Kutch on Friday. He stayed overnight in the village and conducted an evening dialogue session with the residents. The Chief Minister congratulated the villagers of Kuran, located near the international border, for their cooperation during Operation Sindoor by following the instructions of the administrative authorities and the armed forces. CM Patel highlighted to the villagers that even the most remote regions of Kutch have experienced accelerated development, driven by the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He stated that the Renewable Energy Park has become a major hub for employment, and the Rann Utsav has brought economic prosperity to the rural communities of Kutch. Chief Minister assured the villagers that the government stands firmly with them and is fully committed to addressing and fulfilling their local development needs. On Saturday, the concluding day of the Shala Praveshotsav, the Chief Minister visited the school in Kuran village and facilitated the enrollment of 104 children, from Balvatika and Anganwadi up to standard 9. As part of this year's Shala Praveshotsav, over 1.34 lakh children are set to be enrolled in schools across the entire Kutch district. Chief Minister Patel also inaugurated the newly constructed primary school in Kuran, a village known as the sentinel of the border. The Chief Minister interacted with the newly enrolled children and held a meeting with members of the School Management Committee (SMC), guiding school and village infrastructure, the quality of education, and various development-related issues. Furthermore, he also urged parents to take an active interest in their children's education and to contribute towards building a Viksit Gujarat for a Viksit Bharat. Turning the Shala Praveshotsav into a celebration of development, the Chief Minister gifted development projects worth Rs 107.60 crore to the Kutch district. On the occasion, MLAs, office bearers, senior district officials, villagers, children, and their parents were present. (ANI)
