Ministry of Education Hosts a Workshop on “Volunteering for ULLAS”

On Monday, October 7, the Ministry of Education hosted a workshop titled "Volunteering for ULLAS" with the goal of promoting youth volunteerism from Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) and attaining complete literacy throughout India, as outlined in the National Education Policy 2020.

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)-accredited TEI students and Sanjay Kumar, Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) under the Ministry of Education, led the virtual workshop. In his workshop speech, Kumar emphasized the need for cooperation in order to give particular focus to advancing literacy in all spheres of society throughout the nation.

He went on to say that literacy should be offered to people who do not have access to school and that students at their institutions should be supported and guided in signing up for the ULLAS App. Additional attendees at the meeting included Preeti Meena, Director at DoSE&L, Prof. Pankaj Arora, Chairperson of the NCTE, Kesang Y. Sherpa, Member Secretary of the NCTE, and Archana Sharma Awasthi, Joint Secretary at DoSE&L.

During the program, Archana Sharma Awasthi urged teachers and students to participate in the program for community service and engagement by presenting the agenda for the workshop named "ULLAS: Nav Bharat Literacy Programme", a press release informed. Whereas, Prof. Pankaj Arora declared that the NCTE is totally dedicated to accomplishing "Jan Jan Saakshar" in order to realise the objective of Viksit Bharat.

Kesang Y. Sherpa emphasized that, as of the academic year 2023–24, the NCTE has instructed all TEIs to introduce 8–10 students to the ULLAS program and inspire them to volunteer as teachers and support the cause of nation-building. She added that the students can receive two credits for community service and involvement if they actively participate in ULLAS-New India Literacy Programme (NILP), NSS, and other community-related activities, she continued.