Portal launched to monitor progress of STARS project
Jaipur: The state education department Friday launched a portal for monitoring development works done under the STARS (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States) project.
Rajasthan is one of the six states selected for the STARS project, which focuses on the infrastructure development of schools with the support of the
World Bank
. Other states include Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
Its objective is to ensure overall improvement in the quality of school education, teaching-training, and administrative efficiency.
Officials said that this microsite is the dedicated digital presence of the STARS project, which aims to provide transparent information about the activities related to the project, ensure monitoring of progress, and promote active participation of the public in education reforms.
Through this portal, policymakers, educationists, teachers, students, and the public will be able to see the progress of different activities undertaken as part of the project.
The project focuses on strengthening early education, improving learning assessment, performance of teachers, and classroom practice, among other initiatives to improve the quality of education. Education secretary Krishna Kunal directed the departmental officers to regularly upload details regarding meetings, activities, and documents related to the project on the microsite, so that this platform can become a live and updated information source.
As part of the STARS project, the education department in the past three years conducted training for over 32,500 mentor teachers and anganwadi workers to enhance parental engagement, a key part of monitoring the progress of a student. Under this project, intervention was also done in schools to provide child-friendly furniture to schools where anganwadi centres are also run. "Child-friendly furniture, such as appropriately sized tables and chairs, provides better sitting arrangements, promoting comfort and proper posture.
This helps in retaining students as it increases their attraction to the schools or anganwadi centres," said a senior official. As part of the project, creative wall and floor paintings were also introduced in 210 schools, including KGBVs and MEWAT hostels, to support joyful and visual learning.
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