Gandhinagar When Narendra Modi took oath as the 14th Chief Minister of Gujarat 23 years ago, the level of education in Gujarat was very low. At the same time, Modi had pledged that he would make all efforts to improve the condition of the education sector in Gujarat and make education simple and accessible to the last class of the state. To realize this resolve, he vigorously launched many initiatives and schemes in the education sector and made vigorous efforts to expand the scope of education in the state. With the aim of accelerating primary education in the state and increasing enrollment of students in schools, the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi started Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani (Education) Rath Yatra programs in the year 2003. Recently, the 21st School Entrance Festival was organized under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. Today we can see the positive results of the penance started by Narendra Modi in the education sector 23 years ago. Due to the efforts of Modi, today colleges and universities providing higher and technical education have been established in Gujarat itself. 23 years ago there were only 21 universities in Gujarat, whereas today 108 universities are functioning in the state, which are providing higher education opportunities to the students at the local level. Gujarat has today become a hub of sector-specific universities. Government schools of the state have also become smart and digital today. Students who were studying on black boards two decades ago are today using smart boards and interactive smart classes with the help of technology. These achievements in the education sector are grateful to the capable leadership of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi.
Initiatives and schemes of the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the primary education sector
Narendra Modi has always emphasized the importance of education. When he took over the responsibility of governing Gujarat 23 years ago, the condition of education in the state was very low. With the aim of improving the primary education sector and enrolling more and more children in schools, Narendra Modi started the School Entrance Festival and Kanya Kelavani Rath Yatra program in the year 2003. The positive results of this program were that today lakhs of children of the state get admission in schools through the Shala Praveshotsav program. Recently, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the 21st Shala Praveshotsav was successfully organized in the state, through which about 16 lakh children got admission in primary education. Apart from the school entrance ceremony; To give impetus to primary education, Narendra Modi implemented various educational schemes like Gunotsav, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Vidyadeep Scheme etc. As a result of these initiatives and schemes implemented in the education sector, the school dropout ratio rate of classes 1 to 8 in the state was 37.55 percent in the year 2002, whereas today it has reduced significantly. Under Gyan Kunj Project, interactive smart classes with smart boards have been created in the classrooms in government primary schools of Gujarat with the help of technology.
Higher and technical education in Gujarat
23 years ago, students of Gujarat had to look to other states of the country or abroad to get higher education. To solve this problem, the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi focused on establishing institutions providing higher and technical education in the state. In the last 23 years, there has been a continuous increase in the number of colleges, universities and technical education providing institutions in the state. Whereas 23 years ago only 21 universities were functioning in the state, today 108 universities are functioning. The number of medical colleges in the state has also increased from 10 23 years ago to 40 today. moreover; Through the Student Startup and Innovation Policy, financial assistance is being provided to the innovation of young talents of Gujarat, which has encouraged the youth of the state for startups. According to the Government of India’s Startup Ranking, Gujarat has been consistently ranked first as the best performing state in the country for the last 4 years. Gujarat has today become a hub of sector-specific universities. The state today has Children’s University, Rakshashakti University, National Forensic Science University (NFSU), Biotechnology University, Railway University (Vadodara), Gujarat Maritime University, Gujarat Technological University (GTU), Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE), Gujarat National Law University. (GNLU) etc. institutions are providing higher and technical education at local level to the students of the state. With the aim of encouraging students to pursue higher education, Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana, Research Scheme, Mukhyamantri Kanya Kelavani Nidhi Yojana etc. are working in Gujarat.
Vidya Review Center
The country’s first educational command and control center ‘Vidya Samiksha Kendra’ has been started in Gujarat to monitor the performance of all government schools in the state. Vidya Samiksha Kendra is India’s first real-time, online, all-inclusive school education dashboard. Vidya Samiksha Kendra has been equipped with modern facilities like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Data Analysis etc. In the Vidya Samiksha Kendra, related analysis and insights are done at the state, district, tehsil, cluster, school, grade, subject and student level. Vidya Samiksha Kendra gives a state-wise analysis of achievements across all learning outcomes in all subjects from classes 3 to 12. Delegations from international institutions like World Bank, OECD, British Deputy High Commissioner, UNICEF and Cambridge have visited Vidya Samiksha Kendra and praised it. This modern center in the education sector can bring big changes in the entire country.