NCERT Textbooks to Have QR Codes from Next Year: Javadekar

Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr. Prakash Javadekar announced that all the published textbooks of NCERT would have QR codes from the next year, i.e., 2019-20. QR codes will enable the students to understand the chapters and concepts better by reading additional content or watching film on digital boards and laptops.

QR (Quick Response) Code is regarded as a machine-readable code comprising of an array of white and black squares. These are used for storing web-links or any other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone.

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Mr. Javadekar further announced that the central government included a provision of Rs. 6,600 crore for bearing the interest component on education loans. These loans will be applicable for the entire course period plus one year. Over 1 lakh students are expected to avail benefits of the education loans from academic years 2017-18 to 2019-20. At present, the government is spending Rs. 2,200 per annum towards interest costs on education loans, he explained.

Under the education loan scheme, the central government will incur the cost of education loan up to Rs. 7.50 lakh for students whose family income is less than Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum.

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Mr. Javadekar revealed that the government has decided to merge three existing schemes on public education including: -

• Teacher Education (TE)
• Rashtriya Madhyamika Shiksha Abhiyan
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

For this merger, the government has outlined an estimated allocation of Rs. 75,000 crore over the period.

The government has also constituted a committee for recommendations on installing digital boards in government schools. The committee will submit its report within a month.