A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Department of School, Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India and the School Education Dept., Government of Arunachal Pradesh to establish schools under the PM Schools for Rising India (PMSHRI) scheme.

"Today, a MoU has been signed between @DselEduMinistry, @EduMinOfIndia, Govt. of India and the School Education Dept., Government of Arunachal Pradesh to establish the #PMSHRI Schools by strengthening the existing schools from the schools managed by State/local bodies," tweeted the Ministry of Education.

The PM Schools for Rising India or PMSHRI scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2022. Under this scheme, development of more than 14500 schools across the country as PM SHRI Schools will be done by strengthening select existing schools being managed by Central Government/ State/ UT Government/ local bodies.

Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu took to his Twitter handle and writes, "The visionary leadership of Hon PM Shri @narendramodi Ji is taking the education to a new high.

Glad that an MoU was signed between @DselEduMinistry, @EduMinOfIndia and School Education Dept, Govt of Arunachal, to set up #PMSHRI Schools in the State, today."

PM SHRI Schools further aims to showcase all components of the National Education Policy 2020, act as exemplar schools and also offer mentorship to other schools in their vicinity. It  also claims to 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.

The scheme of PM SHRI schools is to be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a total project cost of Rs. 27360 crore which includes a central share of Rs. 18128 crore for the period of five years from year 2022-23 to 2026-27.

PM SHRI scheme will provide high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school environment that takes care of the diverse background, multilingual needs, and different academic abilities of children and makes them active participants in their own learning process as per the vision of NEP 2020.

These centrally sponsored 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, study of traditions/practices related to protection of environment, climate change related hackathon and awareness generation to adopt sustainable lifestyle.

Apart from being enivironment friendly, the pedagogy that will be adopted in these schools will be more experiential, holistic, integrated, play/toy-based (particularly, in the foundational years) inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible and enjoyable.

The focus will be on 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.

The PM SHRI Schools would be implemented through the existing administrative structure available for Samagra Shiksha, KVS & NVS. The other autonomous bodies would be involved on specific project basis as required. These schools shall be monitored vigorously to assess progress and understand the challenges faced in implementation of National Education Policy 2020.

The selection of the PM SHRI Schools will be done through ‘Challenge Mode’ wherein schools compete for support to become exemplar schools. Schools would be required to self-apply on the online portal. The portal will be opened four times a year, once every quarter, for first two years of the scheme.

The Elementary schools (Class 1-5/1-8) & the Secondary/ Sr. Secondary Schools (Class1-10/1-12/6-10/6-12) managed by Centre/State/UT Governments / local self-governments having UDISE+ code would be considered for selection under the Scheme.  Selection would be done through a three-stage process with definite time lines.

More than 18 lakh students are expected to be direct beneficiaries of the scheme. Futher impact will be generated through the mentoring and handholding of the schools in vicinity of PM SHRI schools.

(With inputs from PIB)