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Education being the corner stone for human dignity and development, the noble cause is being given a special focus in allocation of resources in the two consecutive budgets since 2004-05. Total literacy has been a cherished goal since Independence, though the pace in the process of eradication of illiteracy has been rather slow as compared to the planned projections. However, various studies all over the world have indicated that public spending has a direct bearing in students enrolment. Better amenities in schools and an optimum teacher-student ratio would help in retaining students in schools even in the most backward areas. The sorry state of school infrastructure has to be corrected, and nutritional status of children improved for enrolment of all the children of school going age for primary education.
In the Union Budget for 2005-06, a sum of Rs 11,217.26 crore has been allocated for plan projects for elementary education alone, up by 195 per cent as compared to the allocation for 2004-05. The cess for primary education over and above all central taxes has raked in additional funds for the social cause. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), aiming at primary education for all children of school going age, has been allocated Rs.7,156 crore in the General Budget for 2005-06 and a non-lapsable fund called “Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh” has been created as a bursary for the novel scheme. These measures will help to enhance the quality of education being imparted in Government-run and aided schools across the nation apart from creation of new school infrastructure. The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, that provides for cooked noon meal for students, has been given Rs 3010.76 crore in the budget, which will benefit over 11.20 crore students all over the country.
The Census-2001 report indicates that literary rate has increased from 52.21 per cent in 1991 to 65.38 per cent in 2001, the highest-ever decadal growth. Though this is indeed a remarkable achievement, the remaining 34.62 per cent who are left out of the literacy map cannot be ignored. National literacy mission has aimed at a sustainable threshold level of literacy of 75 per cent by the year 2005, which is regarded as full literacy. Though many milestones have been crossed in education, even a small section of the society that is left out to be ignorant of the alphanumerals would hamper the productivity and affect the efforts of the country to evolve into a knowledge society. There may be a primary school within the radius of one kilometer from most Indian habitations.
Yet, many schools are functioning with a single teacher, affecting the quality of education. Therefore the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan project approval board has given its nod for opening of 44,719 new schools and appointment of 2,10,431 additional teachers in villages nationwide in 2004-05, which would improve the teacher-student ratio. The recently launched geosynchronous satellite Edusat that covers all the villages all through the year can complement such efforts as it has the potential to serve as a bridge between high profile academic institutions in cities and their rural counterparts, defying distance and other bottlenecks.
India has acquired the distinction of being one of the premium Centres for Research. International bodies have set up their development hubs in India, not only in the well known domain of IT, but also in other spheres such as pharma, biotech and similar cutting edge technologies. India’s quality human resources that are available at competitive cost attract global firms to set up their shops in India. To sustain this trend and to broaden the base of quality work force, it is all the more important to create an environment in which none of the deserving candidates goes out of access to professional education for which they qualify. Enrolment of students for higher education is on the rise. Over 62.50 per cent have been registered in 2000-01 as compared to 1990-91, and is still on the rise. However, for many, the financial aspect serves to be a road-block for higher education. To remove the hurdle, the Centre has made available education loans at easier terms. As a result, there is a spurt in the disbursal of educational loan, which more than 1.40 lakh students have availed as of December 31, 2004, to the tune of Rs 2249 crore to make their career dreams come true. It only indicates that the nation is in the right direction towards creation of a knowledge society by not leaving any eligible candidate out of reach of higher education, and in reducing the gap between the rich and the poor in access to professional education.
The industry often points out the fact that in many cases, education does not craft students into employable assets. Employment may not be the sole aim of education, yet its role as an instrument to enable a person as a breadwinner can hardly be discounted. Keeping this in view, the Centre has proposed to upgrade around 100 ITI’s all over the country in 2005-06 with new curriculum and newer trades in such a way that their students pass out fully prepared to meet the changing and challenging needs of modern industry. The number of engineering and other professional colleges is also on the rise, surpassing those imparting traditional courses manifold. Higher education and research in basic subjects can hardly be regarded as redundant; however, academics say that a healthy ratio of professional and traditional courses needs to be maintained.
The National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) aims at increasing the resource allocation for education to 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the present trend of public spending as reflected in the last two General Budgets indicates a progressive movement towards that end. (PIB Features)
**AIO, PIB, Chennai
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