New Delhi, 27 July (H.S.): A total of 13,092 schools have so far been selected across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme. A large number of teachers have been appointed in these schools for teaching Sanskrit, Urdu and various regional languages. The government has appointed 9,152 teachers for regional languages, 6,102 for Sanskrit and 1,994 for Urdu.

Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Monday that PM SHRI is a centrally sponsored scheme aimed at developing more than 14,500 schools across the country as model institutions equipped with modern facilities, inclusive education systems and aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

According to the minister, the 13,092 selected PM SHRI schools include government and aided schools from states and Union Territories, along with institutions under the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and schools affiliated with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

As per state-wise data, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of selected PM SHRI schools with 1,888 institutions. It is followed by Andhra Pradesh with 982 schools, Maharashtra with 946, Madhya Pradesh with 944, Bihar with 904, Odisha with 840 and Telangana with 832 schools.

The data on language teachers shows that Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of teachers appointed for regional languages at 2,142. It is followed by Telangana with 1,666, Karnataka with 1,115 and Punjab with 922 regional language teachers.

For Sanskrit, Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of appointed teachers at 1,211, followed by Rajasthan with 768, Odisha with 738 and Bihar with 736 teachers. In the case of Urdu teachers, the highest appointments have been recorded in Bihar with 691 teachers, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 351 and Jammu and Kashmir with 323 teachers.

The government stated that the PM SHRI scheme aims to ensure the holistic development of students by promoting quality education, modern infrastructure, digital facilities, and the use of mother tongues and Indian languages in schools.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar