Dehradun, May 21 -- Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday announced that all private schools of the state will be connected to Vidya Samiksha Kendra, which is based on Gujarat education model. While speaking at the foundation stone laying programme of the hostel at Saraswati Vidya Mandir in Manduwala, Dehradun, Dhami said: "Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to implement the Gujarat model of Prime Minister's Vidya Samiksha Kendra. About 16,000 government schools of the state have been connected with this innovation. Soon all private schools of the state will also be connected with Vidya Samiksha Kendra, under which information about teachers, students and all educational activities related to these schools will be available to the government through a centralised system". The Gujarat government had set up the country's first Vidya Samiksha Kendra in 2019 as a prototype. In 2021, a dedicated building for the Vidya Samiksha Kendra was built in Gujarat. According to an official familiar with the matter, Vidya Samiksha Kendra is aimed at leveraging data and technology to bring improvement in learning outcomes. It aims to analyse the data meaningfully using big data analysis, AI and machine learning in order to enhance the overall monitoring of the education system and thereby improve learning outcomes. Its objective is to monitor the real-time status of various projects/ activities under the ambit of Samagra Shiksha, keep track of enrolled students including learning outcomes, dropouts, support required by teachers and schools, monitor and track field level academic and non-academic activities at the state level and also empower administrators and teachers in the field to take data-driven decisions and develop centralised dashboard providing the real-time performance indicators of schools. During the event on Tuesday, Dhami said that under the leadership of PM Modi, extensive reforms have been made in the education system in the country. "The state government implemented the new education policy for the first time in the country. 141 PM Shri Vidyalaya and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Residential Schools are being constructed in the state. Virtual classrooms have also been arranged in 500 schools in 13 districts of the state. NCERT books have been made compulsory in all government schools to ensure quality education," he said. The chief minister further said meritorious studentsfrom Class 6 to 12 of government and non-government schools of Uttarakhand are being given scholarships under the Chief Minister's Medhavi Chhatra Protsahan Scholarship Scheme. "For the personality development of children in the state, the process of sending meritorious students of 10th and 12th class of each development block on India tour has also been started," he said. "Scholarships are being given to talented players from the age of 8 years. Free training, education, accommodation, food and kits etc. are also being provided to the players of residential sports colleges of the state. A historic beginning has been made to give government jobs to players who bring medals in any national level competition," he said....