With an aim to ensure that not a single child is deprived of education and no child falls prey to a communicable disease, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the month-long ‘School Chalo’ campaign and campaign against communicable diseases on Saturday.
“Parents must be prepared to send their children to school as the state can achieve 100 per cent literacy only when every child goes to school. He stressed the need for advancing the School Chalo campaign in the coming years as a fully literate population will be a big asset for the state,” he added.
CM Yogi said, “It is our responsibility to ensure that not a single child is deprived of school and no child falls prey to a communicable disease.”
On this occasion, the Chief Minister provided free textbooks to the children of classes one to eight and distributed report cards to the students who have passed the ‘Nipun assessment’.
He also released School Readiness and Teacher Guide and launched Rani Laxmibai Self-Defense Training Program as part of Mission Shakti.
Speaking on the occasion, the CM said, “The soul of the country resides in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has been the focal point of education and health since ancient times. Kashi and Prayagraj have attracted people in the field of higher education for a long time. Naimisharanya of Sitapur has been the land of scripting the Vedic knowledge of India.”
The CM went on to say that Uttar Pradesh has long been the centre of India’s knowledge, science and spirituality. However, at one point Uttar Pradesh was being identified for anarchy, hooliganism, riots, corruption, and disorder due to its failure to prepare for the time.
“The actions taken by the state government over the past six years are now showing results in every field. On July 1, 2017, we launched the School Chalo campaign in Kukrail. This program was a complete success,” he said.
Yogi continued, “When Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed his position in 2014, he observed that there was a high rate of school dropouts, particularly among girls and those who had completed the fifth and eighth grades. That’s why a slogan was given at that time, ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. Through this program, we have tried to ensure that no child is deprived of going to school. For this, a large-scale program was run with the help of our teachers, public representatives, and education department personnel.”
“In July 2017, there were 1.34 crore enrolled students; as of today, there are 1.92 crore students. This increased number shows that this program has progressed successfully within the state,” he added.
Pointing out the condition of schools before 2017, Yogi said, “The schools lacked basic amenities and the students had no uniforms and shoes.”
“Our government decided to provide each child with two uniforms, bags, books, shoes, and socks. Under Operation Kayakalp, public representatives, Education department officials, administrative officers, police officers, and alumni all adopted one school each. I’m happy to report that, as part of Operation Kayakalp, we covered 1.36 lakh schools out of a total of 1.56 lakh schools, providing them with basic amenities as well as smart classes and other facilities.”
The CM informed that work is underway to provide the remaining 20,000 schools with basic amenities as well as smart classes and other facilities.
CM Yogi stated that the curriculum has undergone significant change as well. The Basic Education Council is adopting the syllabus of NCERT. Along with the presence of teachers, the presence of officials of the Education department is being registered through the ‘Manav Sampada’ portal.
“You can estimate the changes in the education sector by the fact that we have appointed 1.60 lakh teachers in basic and secondary education alone. This demonstrates that there weren’t many teachers present,” Yogi said.
“With the beginning of the School Chalo Abhiyan, it becomes our responsibility to see to it that every teacher and every headmaster holds a meeting with all the dignitaries of the ward or gram panchayat in which the school is located, and seeks their cooperation. They must meet with the parents. Door-to-door screening of each house should be done,” the CM noted.
Yogi recommended a thorough examination of the population of village panchayats, and their different social and economic conditions through the creation of a database consisting of details as to how many children a family has and how many are going to school. The school should have reports of the village panchayats.
“If possible, the Basic Education Council should prepare a portal for this and take this database from each school. It will also be a case study for a teacher at the local level. From this, you will be able to decide how many children are going to school and how many are deprived and the reasons for deprivation. It should be our endeavour to ensure that the Aadhaar authentication is done at the same time,” noted Yogi.
He directed the district magistrates to prepare a nodal officer who, along with the BSA, will ensure that the money is transferred to the parents’ accounts through DBT after this program in every development block and every gram panchayat.
“The government has decided that every gram panchayat will have a playground. This will be on the land surrounding the school. Also, arrange for an open gym. Children should not go on the road to play. As long as the school runs, the children will use it and the rest of the Gram Panchayat will use it. In this way, a big campaign can shape up in the state, which will not only create a good learning environment but also keep children physically and mentally healthy,” the CM remarked.
Yogi emphasised that the next one month is very important for basic education. Only the government schools run by the Basic Education Council are not to be included in this.
“It should be our endeavour that schools run by government-aided private management should also be linked with government schools”, he said.
Uttar Pradesh has set a model for controlling communicable diseases
On communicable diseases, CM Yogi said, “Uttar Pradesh is a state of nine climatic zones. Different diseases also occur in different areas. Encephalitis killed thousands of kids each year in Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, the Terai of Nepal, and Saharanpur. Varanasi and the surrounding areas used to be affected by kala-azar, Bareilly and its surrounding areas by malaria, Lucknow, Kanpur and Mathura by dengue as well as Jhansi and Bundelkhand region by Chikungunya virus.”
“Communicable Disease Control was launched on April 1, 2018, exactly 5 years ago. Government of India and organizations like UNICEF, and WHO contributed along with the departments of the state to take these programs to the masses. Today Uttar Pradesh has set a model for the country for communicable disease control,” CM Yogi remarked further.
Regarding the simultaneous launch of the Communicable Disease Control Program and the School Chalo Abhiyan, CM Yogi said that it was because children fell prey to these diseases.
“The teachers must pay attention to the cleanliness and availability of pure drinking water. A program about cleanliness in the schools has to be carried forward. Talking with the village head committee, the parents will also have to be motivated. The more information you can give to children about cleanliness, the more success you will get in controlling communicable diseases,” he said.
“In 2 years, we have to free every patient from TB. Big programs are going on for this. Every teacher in the village should try to help TB patients; the government will assist them,” Yogi added.
Along with the launch of School Chalo Abhiyan-2023 and the Communicable Disease Control Campaign, CM Yogi also flagged off vector control vehicles at Lok Bhavan on Saturday.
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak was also present with the Chief Minister as the vector control vehicles left for their destinations.
