Education News

Delhi Clouded Peoples Report The May 22 second anniversary celebration of the Congress-led UPA government which against all expectations and predictions (EducationWorld excepted), was voted into power at the Centre two years ago, proved to be a damp squib. In particular the UPA government’s much-hyped initiative of transforming 21st century India into a knowledge society under the guidance of the high-powered Knowledge Commission came a cropper, with two of its members including its convenor Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, resigning on the day. Nevertheless, the anniversary was celebrated by the UPA government to trumpet its achievements and present a report card “to the people”. In education, the government took special credit for creating a non-lapsable fund — the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh — to receive the proceeds of the two percent education cess imposed on all Central taxes (Rs.8,746 crore) to finance elementary education, under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan or Education for All programme. The government also took credit for the mid-day meal scheme covering 120 million children in over 9.5 lakh schools across the country, proclaimed the world’s largest school feeding programme. According to the Peoples Report, an exercise to extend the mid-day meal programme to upper primary schools has commenced. In a society where outcome reports are hard to come by, the UPA government’s Peoples Report provides some hard data. “During 2005-06, opening of 35,306 schools, appointment of 156,610 teachers, construction of 34,262 school buildings, 141,886 additional classrooms, 65,771 toilets and 40,760 drinking water facilities have been approved.” The report also proudly states that in fiscal 2006-07, compared to 2003-04, SSA’s annual plan outlay increased four-fold to Rs.11,000 crore; the mid-day meal allocation nearly four-fold (Rs.5,348 crore); elementary education and literacy plan outlay three-fold to Rs. 17,128 crore; and the overall education plan outlay was raised by 180 percent to Rs.20,744 crore. But typically while the Peoples Report is generous about divulging outlays, it is silent about outcomes. “The future will judge as to how many primary schools in the country will actually become operational in rural and slum areas, and whether toilets and drinking water will become available to neglected citizens. The numbers are impressive but the ground situation must also be so,” says Dr. J.S. Rajput, former director of the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), who was sacked forthwith by the UPA for allegedly infusing Hindu myths into NCERT texts during the rule of the BJP-led NDA government (1999-2004). Expectedly, the Peoples Report card lists reversal of ‘saffronisation’ in education as a major achievement of the UPA government. In higher and technical education, the report lists four merit scholarship schemes introduced by the UPA government. In these schemes 350 scholarships per year are for engineering students and 150 for medical students in government and aided institutions. The waiver of threshold for collateral for student loans by banks was raised to Rs.7.5 lakh, (up from Rs.4 lakh earlier). Moreover the report reiterates that a Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme has been launched for funding 2,000 fellowships annually for…