Despite an increase in enrollment of students, the scheme has failed to either ensure attendance, or drastically reduce dropouts, especially by girl children. By VIKASH KUMAR
Providing education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years,
bridging the gender gap at the primary stage by 2007, and universal retention by 2010 were the chief goals of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Now, consider the reality. The number of children out of school on 1 April, 2001, was 34 million, and after four years of implementation of the scheme and an expenditure of Rs.11,133.57 crore by the Centre and state governments, 13.6 million students were still out of the ambit of the scheme. This raises a few questions – either the targets were over-ambitious or there are inadequacies in the scheme.
Seema Kumari, a class V student in Jamtara Primary School, has a fervent desire to study. But she despises the idea of going to school. The reason: there is no separate toilet for girls. Expressing her dissatisfaction over infrastructure in the school, she says, “It is embarrassing. How can I go in the toilets used be a boy?” Government-run schools suffer from other issues such as lack of running water, electricity, and proper shades. Janeshwar Prasad, a retired school teacher in Aurangabad district of Bihar, says, “In the rainy season, it is a Herculean task to reach schools due to the condition of connecting roads. This is why teaching is seriously affected.”
The union ministry has found that there is a gap of 10 lakh classrooms, 4 lakh toilets and 78,000 drinking water facilities in schools. But it had only sanctioned for 5 lakh classrooms, 59,000 drinking water facilities, and 57,327 toilets in 2006-07. Jai Shree Oza, director, CEMD, says, “Quality of teachers and curriculum is also important to meet the desired goals.” Many schools in the remote areas suffer from paucity of teachers. An official who does not wish to be quoted, says, “Teachers are reluctant to go to remote villages. They want postings in towns.”
Ideally, the teacher-student ratio should be 1:40. But field realities show huge variations. The villages in the vicinity of towns have a better ratio, but in the interiors, the ratio is as high as 1:150. A survey conducted by an NGO, PRIA, in Harayana during 2004-06, found that the ratio in some villages was 1:100, and remained unchanged during the period. According to a recent CAG report, 75,884 schools in 15 states/union territories operated with only one teacher, and 6,647 schools in 7 states were without any teacher at all.
There is under-utilisation of funds. In Haryana, in 2004-05, the first installment of the central share of Rs.50 crore was released on August 13, 2004. The problem is that both the centre and states don’t release funds as per annual plans and budgets. M.A.A. Fatmi, the union minister of state for HRD, says, “States like Bihar are not able to utilise the allocated funds.” According to a 2006 CAG report, Rs.47.88 lakh was released in Jharkand in 2002-03 to non-existent schools.
At a more macro level, the scheme is saddled with lower-than-projected allocation of funds. The budgetary support to the programme in the initial years was too less. In the first three years of the programme, the budgetary funding was just a third of the projected requirement, and there was a shortfall of Rs.11,699 crore. This was the main reason that targets could not be achieved in the initial years, and the deadlines were pushed further. It was during the UPA regime that the scheme gathered the much-desired momentum. The funding of SSA is done through the educational cess of 2%.
Initially, the funding pattern between the Centre and states for the programme was 75:25 during the 10th Plan period. In the 11th Plan, this has been changed to a 65:35 ratio for the first two years, 60:40 in the third year, 55:45 in fourth year, and 50:50 in the last year of the plan. The total outlay for the entire scheme during the 11th Plan is Rs.71,000,000 crore, but the changed ratio puts more burden on the various states.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
Providing education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years,
bridging the gender gap at the primary stage by 2007, and universal retention by 2010 were the chief goals of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Now, consider the reality. The number of children out of school on 1 April, 2001, was 34 million, and after four years of implementation of the scheme and an expenditure of Rs.11,133.57 crore by the Centre and state governments, 13.6 million students were still out of the ambit of the scheme. This raises a few questions – either the targets were over-ambitious or there are inadequacies in the scheme.Seema Kumari, a class V student in Jamtara Primary School, has a fervent desire to study. But she despises the idea of going to school. The reason: there is no separate toilet for girls. Expressing her dissatisfaction over infrastructure in the school, she says, “It is embarrassing. How can I go in the toilets used be a boy?” Government-run schools suffer from other issues such as lack of running water, electricity, and proper shades. Janeshwar Prasad, a retired school teacher in Aurangabad district of Bihar, says, “In the rainy season, it is a Herculean task to reach schools due to the condition of connecting roads. This is why teaching is seriously affected.”
The union ministry has found that there is a gap of 10 lakh classrooms, 4 lakh toilets and 78,000 drinking water facilities in schools. But it had only sanctioned for 5 lakh classrooms, 59,000 drinking water facilities, and 57,327 toilets in 2006-07. Jai Shree Oza, director, CEMD, says, “Quality of teachers and curriculum is also important to meet the desired goals.” Many schools in the remote areas suffer from paucity of teachers. An official who does not wish to be quoted, says, “Teachers are reluctant to go to remote villages. They want postings in towns.”
Ideally, the teacher-student ratio should be 1:40. But field realities show huge variations. The villages in the vicinity of towns have a better ratio, but in the interiors, the ratio is as high as 1:150. A survey conducted by an NGO, PRIA, in Harayana during 2004-06, found that the ratio in some villages was 1:100, and remained unchanged during the period. According to a recent CAG report, 75,884 schools in 15 states/union territories operated with only one teacher, and 6,647 schools in 7 states were without any teacher at all.
There is under-utilisation of funds. In Haryana, in 2004-05, the first installment of the central share of Rs.50 crore was released on August 13, 2004. The problem is that both the centre and states don’t release funds as per annual plans and budgets. M.A.A. Fatmi, the union minister of state for HRD, says, “States like Bihar are not able to utilise the allocated funds.” According to a 2006 CAG report, Rs.47.88 lakh was released in Jharkand in 2002-03 to non-existent schools.
At a more macro level, the scheme is saddled with lower-than-projected allocation of funds. The budgetary support to the programme in the initial years was too less. In the first three years of the programme, the budgetary funding was just a third of the projected requirement, and there was a shortfall of Rs.11,699 crore. This was the main reason that targets could not be achieved in the initial years, and the deadlines were pushed further. It was during the UPA regime that the scheme gathered the much-desired momentum. The funding of SSA is done through the educational cess of 2%.
Initially, the funding pattern between the Centre and states for the programme was 75:25 during the 10th Plan period. In the 11th Plan, this has been changed to a 65:35 ratio for the first two years, 60:40 in the third year, 55:45 in fourth year, and 50:50 in the last year of the plan. The total outlay for the entire scheme during the 11th Plan is Rs.71,000,000 crore, but the changed ratio puts more burden on the various states.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
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