Latest News

20th Shala Praveshotsav to be held from 12th to 14th June with a focus on schools in border villages

Plan for Shala Praveshotsav 2023 is finalized considering Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to strengthen education and infrastructural facilities in border villages

Schools across the border villages of Kutch, Bhavnagar, and Narmada to facilitate the enrolment program under the guidance of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel

For the first time, students aged 5 to 6 years will be admitted to Balvatika as per NEP-2020

Successful distribution of books across schools before Shala Praveshotsav. A total of 11.67 lakh books were delivered for Balvatika and 4.65 crore books for grades 1 to 12th across the state

Gandhinagar, 06-06-2023 : The 20th Shala Praveshotsav, under the guidance of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel, will focus on enrolment in schools across border villages. This decision was taken in line with Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to strengthen educational and infrastructural facilities across the country with a focus on border villages.

Shala Praveshotsav is a school enrolment program organized by the Education Department since the last two decades. This year, the 3-day Shala Praveshotsav will be held in schools of border villages of Kutch, Bhavnagar, and Narmada from 12th to 14th June 2023.

A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel to supervise the preparations for this year’s Shala Praveshotsav in the presence of Chief Secretary Shri Raj Kumar, Secretaries of State Departments, MPs, other ministers and officials of the state government.

During the meeting, Hon’ble Chief Minister stressed on the importance of Shala Praveshotsav in realizing Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ with a focus on empowering villages across the country and promoting primary education, especially in border villages.

He added that this initiative began under the visionary leadership of Shri Narendra Modi when he served as a Chief Minister in 2003 with a motto that “No child of Gujarat shall be deprived of going to school.”
Due to the successful implementation of Shala Praveshotsav in the last two decades, the drop-out rate has come down from 37% to approx. 2% thus increasing the enrolment rate of children in school from 75% to 99%. The Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to concerned officials of the Education Department in the state.

Acknowledging the efforts behind campaigns like Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani, Hon’ble Chief Minister added that over the years there has been a shift in the mindset of the teachers and parents towards education, especially for girls. Today, if the child is absent even for one day in school, the teacher actively reaches out to his/her parents to know the cause of their absence.

Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel has urged to elevate the Shala Praveshotsav to new heights to ensure that Gujarat remains at the forefront of development and leaves no child behind.

Shri Vinod Rao, Secretary, Primary Education shared a detailed presentation describing the features of this year’s Shala Praveshotsav. As per the recommendations of the National Education Policy, it was announced in this presentation that for the first time, children between the ages of 6 and those nearing the completion of 6 years will be admitted to primary schools during ‘Shala Praveshotsav’.

Children who have completed 6 years will be admitted to Grade 1, regardless of their academic credentials. The entry of these admitted children will be recorded in the Child Tracking System database based on their birth certificates. Those children who have not received admission will have their names registered through the Civil Registration System (CRS).

It was also mentioned that a total of 4.6 crore books will be provided to students from Grades 1st to 12th. Additionally, 1.04 crore books will be distributed to vendors for ensuring that students in private schools also have access to books in a timely manner.

11.67 lakh books will be distributed in Balvatikas before the Shala Praveshotsav. Previously, the state government provided textbooks through ‘Pathya Pustak Mandal’ for the same.

Hon’ble Education Minister Shri Kuberbhai Dindor has taken a resolution to elevate the Shala Praveshotsav campaign with an aim to ensure quality education for all.

During the Shala Praveshotsav-2023, the state will also review sanitation, drinking water facilities, electricity, roads, and local health facilities in border villages. Committees will also be formed under the chairmanship of the District Collector in districts and under the chairmanship of the Chief Officer or Municipal Commissioner in the Municipalities and Municipalities for smooth planning and implementation of Shala Praveshotsav.

Ministers, MPs, office-bearers, senior secretaries of the state government, Class-I officers of various departments including the police and forest department, and department heads are to participate in this three-day Shala Praveshotsav.

Source: Information Department, Gujarat