The Arunachal Pradesh government announced an additional Rs 1500 crore for its "Shikshit Arunachal" Mission. This investment aims to enhance school infrastructure, teacher deployment, and digital education, pushing total funding to over Rs 5,100 crore.
According to an official statement released by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting held recently under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Under the flagship scheme, the state has undertaken one of the most comprehensive education reforms in its history.
According to the Arunachal Pradesh government, during Phase-I (2023-2026), the government has invested Rs 3,612.50 crore towards strengthening school infrastructure, teacher deployment, digital education, institutional reforms and learning outcomes across the state. With the proposed Phase-II investment of Rs 1,500 crore, the total mission investment will exceed Rs 5,100 crore by 2029.
Key Mission Achievements
As per the statement, key achievements highlighted before the State Cabinet includes - Rationalization of the school network from 2,890 schools to 1,885 schools, enabling better deployment of teachers and resources through 538 host schools; Enactment of the Arunachal Pradesh Transfer and Posting Act, 2026 and implementation of the digital Teacher Registry Portal, resulting in over 2,600 merit-based teacher transfers; Establishment of modern digital governance systems, including the Arunachal Vidya Nidhi (AVN) platform and Vidya Sameeksha Kendra, ensuring real-time monitoring of educational infrastructure and service delivery; Significant improvement in academic performance, with CBSE Class X pass percentage increasing by 21.7% and Class XII pass percentage increasing by 22.8%, bringing the State close to the national average; Improvement in national educational rankings, with Arunachal Pradesh securing 17th position in the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, while also registering notable gains in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) and NITI Aayog SDG rankings.
Infrastructure and Facility Upgrades
Additional achievements are Construction and upgradation of educational infrastructure, including 50 Golden Jubilee Schools, 90 PM Shri Schools, more than 120 hostels, 152 science laboratories, 159 libraries, over 400 sanitation facilities, 300 PM Poshan kitchens and 180 staff quarters, with a special focus on remote and border areas;
Teacher and Stakeholder Development
Recruitment and deployment of specialized teachers, including 150 Special Education Teachers, and extensive capacity-building programmes benefiting more than 7,000 education stakeholders;
Cultural and Language Promotion
Promotion of indigenous languages and culture through development and distribution of 75,100 textbooks in 10 tribal languages, alongside strengthening of Bhoti language education.
The mission, as per the statement, laid the foundation for a transformative and future-ready education ecosystem and reaffirmed its commitment to achieving universal access to quality education, modern infrastructure, digital learning and improved learning outcomes by 2029.
Rural Road Development Programme
On the other hand, the State Cabinet was apprised of the implementation framework of the Chief Minister's Comprehensive State Rural Road Development Programme (CM-CSRRDP), a flagship initiative announced in the State Budget. The programme aims to provide all-weather road connectivity to all unconnected habitations with populations below 250 by 2029.
A total of 1,129 habitations covering approximately 6,567 km of road network are proposed to be connected through phased investments of Rs 2,000 crore over the next three financial years. The initiative is expected to improve access to education, healthcare, markets, government services, livelihood opportunities and tourism while promoting rural economic growth and balanced regional development. (ANI)
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