What is PM SHRI, the ‘showcase’ schools scheme that Centre is pushing in states?

• The Centre has stopped funding for the umbrella program for school education in three opposition-ruled states that have refused to implement its PM SHRI scheme.
• The Samagra Shiksha Scheme, for which funding has been stopped in West Bengal, Punjab, and Delhi, supports implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
• Samagra Shiksha funds for the third and fourth quarters of 2023-24 and the first quarter of 2024-25, amounting to Rs 330 crore, Rs 515 crore, and Rs 1,000 crore for Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal respectively, have not been released.
• states cannot receive Samagra Shiksha funds without implementing PM SHRI (PM Schools for Rising India), which is part of the program.

PM SHRI scheme

• The scheme, approved in 2022, seeks to develop 14,500 schools to “showcase” the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, and be “exemplars” for other schools in their region. The scheme is for existing elementary, secondary, and senior secondary schools run by the central government and state and local governments around the country.
• The PM SHRI dashboard online currently lists 10,077 schools, of which 839 are Kendriya Vidyalayas and 599 Navodaya Vidyalayas, both run by the Centre. The remaining 8,639 schools are run by state or local governments.
• The Centre had declared a total project cost of Rs 27,360 crore for five years until 2026-27, of which the Centre would bear Rs 18,128 crore. At the end of the five-year period, states and Union Territories (UTs) would be required to “continue to maintain the benchmarks achieved by these schools”.
• The government told Lok Sabha in February that Rs 3,395.16 crore had been approved for 6,207 PM SHRI schools for 2023-24, of which the Centre’s share was Rs 2,520.46 crore and that of the states Rs 874.70 crore.

Selection of schools

• UP has the most PM SHRI schools (1,865) followed by Maharashtra (910) and Andhra Pradesh (900). No state or local government-run schools in the non-BJP states of Punjab, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Bihar, as well as Odisha, which got a BJP government only last month, have been included in the scheme.
• PM SHRI schools are selected through the “challenge mode” - schools that meet certain minimum benchmarks (including a pucca building in good condition, barrier-free access ramps, at least one toilet each for boys and girls) can apply online.
• They are evaluated on a set of parameters that include infrastructure, teaching staff, and learning outcomes. Schools in urban areas must score at least 70%; those in rural areas 60% to be selected.
• States are supposed to send a list of recommended schools to the Ministry, and an expert committee headed by the School Education and Literacy Secretary draws up the final list. Up to two schools - an elementary school and a secondary/ senior secondary school can be selected per block/ urban local body.
• The state, UT, or Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan/ Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti is required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education
• committing to implement the provisions of the NEP “in entirety within the entire State/ UT”, and to prefix PM SHRI to the name of the selected school.
• States/ UTs have to work to ensure zero dropout rates in all grades within two years of implementation, comply with norms for pupil-teacher ratio, and implement “innovative pedagogy” such as activity-based, sports-based, art-based, and toy-based learning.

Samagra Shiksha

• The PM SHRI scheme is to be implemented at the state/ UT level through the existing administrative structure available for Samagra Shiksha, which the government describes as “an overarching program for the school education sector…from pre-school to Class 12…, prepared with the broader goal of improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes”.
• Samagra Shiksha, which was proposed by the Union Budget of 2018-19, subsumed the erstwhile Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and Teacher Education (TE) schemes.
• The scheme is funded in a 60:40 ratio by the Centre and states, barring the 11 Northeastern and Himalayan states, which have to bear only 10% of the cost.

Three outlier states

• Delhi and Punjab have declined to participate in PM SHRI because the Aam Aadmi Party governments in these states are already implementing similar schemes for exemplar schools called “Schools of Specialised Excellence” and “Schools of Eminence” respectively. West Bengal has objected to the requirement of prefixing PM SHRI to the names of the schools, especially since the state bears 40% of the cost.
• The states that have not signed the PM SHRI MoU have not received funds from the Centre under the Samagra Shiksha scheme. After holding out initially, Kerala, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha agreed to participate in the scheme in March this year.