HRD Ministry Departments reorganised

New Delhi, July 26 (UNI) The Department of Elementary Education and Literacy, and the Department of Secondary and Higher Education of the Human Resource Development Ministry have been reorganised and they will now be known as the Department of School Education and Literacy, and the Department of Higher Education, respectively.

The change has been effected by an amendment in the Business Allocation Rules of the Government in July.

Prior to the amendment, the Department of Elementary Education used to look after work relating to the elementary stage of school education (i.e. classes I-VIII) and programmes of Adult Education, while the Department of Secondary and Higher Education was responsible for education at the secondary stage (i.e. classes IX-XII) and for Higher Education, including Technical Education.

Now, after reorganisation, work relating to Secondary School Education (including Vocational Education at the Secondary stage) and NCERT has been added to the work of the erstwhile Department of Elementary Education and Literacy.

Thus, the successor Department of School Education and Literacy will be responsible for education at the entire school stage- elementary and secondary--besides Adult Education.

On the other hand, the new Department of Higher Education will now be responsible only for the tertiary stage of education (i.e.

education at the college/ university level), including Technical Education.

The changes have been made in view of the fact that all of school education is a single continuum and it is, therefore, desirable that the whole of it is looked after by a single Department rather than being divided up between two Departments.

It would also, inter-alia, facilitate taking up of a programme on the lines of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for the secondary stage of education, an official release said here.

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