Cabinet approves Rs 5718 crore STARS programme under NEP 2020. These six states to get first benefits

Reinforcing the district as the unit of educational planning and management through participatory, tailor-made, and community-led strategies, STARS will rejuvenate local school governance. It will serve as a lighthouse for National Education Policy, said Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal as the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the STARS project under the new National Education Policy to support states in strengthening the school education system.

"In line with #NEP2020, #STARS will bolster need-based teacher training, peer learning, revamp in-service professional development, & institute effective, transparent systems for performance management. It will include career counselling and in-school vocational education along with internships with market relevance. It will facilitate enhanced classroom layouts, developmentally appropriate teaching-learning material, academic support systems, parental engagement strategies, and administrative and academic monitoring for early education," Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal wrote on Twitter. "The project will impact 250 million students & 10 million teachers across 1.5 million schools; realising the vision for New India," he also added.

Addressing a press conference, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Modi government has started implementing the NEP-2020 and as part of the process it has approved the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project. The centrally sponsored project will be implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.

It will cover Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha, he said. The World Bank-supported project is estimated to cost Rs 5,718 crore, he said. The project aims to support the states in developing and improving school education outcomes, the minister said.