STARS Project

The STARS Project is a Union Government approved education reform initiative in India which is financially aided by the World Bank. The total cost of the project is approximately Rs. 5,718 crore. 

In this article, we shall discuss the objectives of the STARS Project along with a background study and its significance in the Indian education system. The topic falls under the Governance and Health and Education part of the UPSC Syllabus and is important from the examination perspective. 

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What is the STARS Project?

The STARS Project stands for Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States. The programme aims at improving the assessment system in schools and ensuring equal education for all .

Given below are important facts related to the STARS Project:

• The total cost of the project is Rs. 5,718 and a partial financial support will also be provided by the World Bank for an amount of US$ 500 million
• The project was approved by the Union Government on June 24, 2020
• It comes under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE)
• The programme aims at working on similar objectives as followed by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020
• There are six Indian states which will be covered under the STARS Project:
  • Himachal Pradesh
  • Rajasthan
  • Maharashtra
  • Madhya Pradesh
  • Kerala
  • Odisha
• This project will be implemented through the Samagra Shiksha Scheme
• The autonomous body, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) has also been established, especially for the education system under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE)
• As a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the focus will be on initiatives of PM e-Vidya, Foundational Literacy, and Numeracy Mission and National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education.
• A project similar to STARS has also been introduced which will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and work for education reforms in five Indian states, namely, Gujarat, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand
• India’s participation in the cycle of PISA or Programme for International Student Assessment survey will also be funded by this project

Objectives of STARS Project

The project has been approved for multiple positive reasons and objectives. Given below are a few such significant features of the STARS project:

• This project will focus on strengthening education policy in every district of the six states
• In case of any natural calamity or disaster, the project may help in the development and growth of schools
• The educational needs of girls and marginalised groups is another focus of this project
• Providing access to education and studies in every district and maintaining the Rights to education entitlements
• Giving proper education to the teachers or faculty, if needed
• Upgrading the environment for learning and development
• Ensuring that no kind of discrimination is done for attaining education

The project has mainly been launched and approved by the Government of India considering the loss that students had to face due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the existence of such educational reforms and projects, delivering the requirements of students can become easier. 

Advantages of the STARS Project

The STARS Project will benefit students in the age group of 6-17 years and act as an advantage for around 250 million students, 1.5 million schools and approximately 10 million teachers. 

Other advantages of the STARS program include:

• With a specific body handling the educational system of a few states, maintaining a balance between proper education and facilities to schools will become convenient
• They will not just improve the percentage of learning candidates but will also focus on improving the standard of learning
• Proper training will also be provided to the teachers and faculty to ensure that modern forms of learning are being adopted by the students as well as the teachers
• STARS will address demands from stakeholders and parents, for providing better quality education
• This program will focus on enhancing India’s human capital demand. Providing quality education will upgrade the standard of learning and ultimately produce a better youth for the future
• The project will also target the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Challenges with the STARS Project

The biggest challenge in front of the organisation members and Government is the timely appointment of teachers and filling in the vacancies to ensure that motivating and capable faculty is appointed. 

Proper sessions will have to be conducted once the faculty is appointed and a proper study plan and strategy will have to be developed. Teachers will also have to be updated with the latest technologies and their usage to avoid any kind of interruption. Extreme involvement of technology will have to be avoided until a proper plan has been attained. 

Another issue that may come is the distribution of funds. The World Bank has ignored the decentralization of decision making by ignoring the devolution of funds.

The concerned authorities may have to keep many points in consideration for a successful implementation of this project and to ensure that the programme meets its desired outcome.

STARS Project:-Download PDF Here

Moving forward, STARS project shall help prepare students for a better and brighter job opportunity. Also, strengthen the country’s motive of education for all by addressing the educational needs of the students in every city and district of the country. 

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