CPCT Test 3
15 min30 WPM required645 words
Click on the passage and start typing to begin.
Education has been a primary and sustained focus of development policy in Madhya Pradesh for many years, with the government making substantial investments in physical infrastructure including school buildings, classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and toilet facilities, in human resources through teacher recruitment, training, and professional development, in student support through scholarships, free uniforms, textbooks, and mid-day meals, and in interventions specifically designed to bring children who have dropped out or never enrolled back into the formal education system. The CM Rise School scheme represents the flagship initiative of the current phase of education investment, aiming to create a network of high-quality government secondary and senior secondary schools in each development block of the state, equipped with modern science and computer laboratories, well-stocked libraries, sports facilities including playgrounds and indoor halls, smart classrooms with digital boards and internet connectivity, vocational education workshops, and residential facilities for students from remote rural hamlets who would otherwise be unable to access the school on a daily basis. The aspiration behind CM Rise Schools is to demonstrate conclusively to parents and communities across the state that the government school system can deliver educational quality comparable to private schools, countering the perception that public education is inevitably inferior and reversing the trend of enrolment migration from government to private schools that has been observed across urban and semi-urban areas. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act guarantees every child between the ages of six and fourteen years the right to free education in a neighbourhood school with basic minimum facilities and trained teachers in the pupil-teacher ratio prescribed by the Act, and the state has made significant progress over the past decade in achieving near-universal enrolment at the elementary level, with enrolment ratios approaching hundred percent in most districts and a dramatic reduction in the number of children who have never attended school. Reducing dropout rates at the secondary and higher secondary levels, particularly among girls from economically disadvantaged families and from scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities, remains a persistent challenge in many districts of the state, as families facing economic pressure may prioritise immediate income from child labour or early marriage for daughters over continued education beyond the compulsory stage. Targeted scholarship programmes for students from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, and economically weaker sections support school retention by providing financial assistance that offsets the direct costs of education such as uniforms, stationery, examination fees, and private tuition, as well as the opportunity cost of the student's time and the loss of income from child labour. The pre-matric and post-matric scholarship programmes channelled through the social welfare and tribal welfare departments have been instrumental in enabling students from disadvantaged communities to progress to higher secondary education and beyond. The Laptop Yojana, which provides free laptop computers to all students who pass the Class 12 board examination from government schools, has been widely appreciated by students and families as a meaningful investment in digital empowerment that improves access to online educational resources, competitive examination preparation materials, and digital financial services. Teacher quality is recognised as the most important single determinant of learning outcomes in schools, and the Rajya Shiksha Kendra implements structured professional development programmes for in-service teachers through regular training workshops at block, district, and state resource centres, using curriculum-aligned training materials and pedagogical approaches that translate educational research findings into classroom practice. The Pratibha Parv programme conducts comprehensive continuous and comprehensive evaluation of students across all government schools, assessing learning outcomes against curriculum objectives and providing district-wise and school-wise performance data that enables the administration to direct additional support to schools and districts where learning levels are below acceptable standards. Digital attendance systems using biometric authentication for both students and teachers have improved accountability in schools, reducing teacher absenteeism which has historically been a significant barrier to improving education quality in rural government schools.