Education
SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is an extensive scheme to universalize elementary education through district based, decentralized specific planning and implementation strategy by community ownership of the school system. The scheme covering the entire country subsuming within itself all other major governmental educational interventions. The Abhiyan is to provide useful and relevant elementary education for children in the 6-14 age group by 2010. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is being implement by the JEPC in all 22 district of Jharkhand since 2001-02.
WHAT IS SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN
A programme with a clear time frame for universal elementary education.
A response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country.
An opportunity for promoting social justice through basic education.
An effort at effectively involving the Panchayati Raj Institutions, School Management
Committees, Village and Urban Slum level Education Committees, Parents
‘Teachers’ Associations, Mother Teacher Associations, Tribal Autonomous
Councils and other grass root level structures in the management of elementary
schools.
An expression of political will for universal elementary education across the country.
A partnership between the Central, State and the local government.
An opportunity for State to develop their own vision of elementary education
OBJECTIVES OF SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN
All Children in school, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School,
‘Back-to-School’ camp by 2003.
All Children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007.
All Children complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010.
Focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education
for life.
Bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at
elementary education level by 2010.
Universal retention by 2010.
BROAD STRATEGIES CENTRAL TO SSA PROGRAMME
Institutional Reforms – As part of the SSA, the Central and the governments will undertake reforms in order to improve efficiency of the delivery system. The States will have to make an objective assessment of their prevalent education system including educational administration, achievement levels in schools, financial issues, decentralisation and community ownership, review of State Education Act, rationalization of teacher deployment and recruitment of teachers, monitoring and evaluation, status of education of girls, SC/ST and disadvantaged groups, policy regarding private schools and ECCE. Many States have already carried out several changes to improve the delivery system for elementary education.
Sustainable Financing – The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is based on the premise that financing of elementary education interventions has to be sustainable. This calls for a long-term perspective on financial partnership between the Central and the State governments.
Community Ownership – The programme calls for community ownership of school-based interventions through effective decentralisation. This will be augmented by involvement of women’s group, VEC members and members of Panchayati Raj institutions.
Institutional Capacity Building – The SSA conceives a major capacity building role for national, state and district level institutions like NIEPA/NCERT/NCTE/ SCERT/ SIEMAT/DIET. Improvement in quality requires a sustainable support system of resource persons and institutions.
Improving Mainstream Educational Administration – It calls for improvement of mainstream educational administration by institutional development, infusion of new approaches and by adoption of cost effective and efficient methods.
Community Based Monitoring with Full Transparency – The Programme will have a community based monitoring system. The Educational Management Information System (EMIS) will correlate school level data with community-based information from micro planning and surveys. Besides this, every school will be encouraged to share all information with the community, including grants receive. A notice board would be put up in every school for this purpose.
Habitation as a Unit of Planning – The SSA works on community based approach to planning with habitation as a unit of planning. Habitation plans will be the basis for formulating district plans.
Accountability to Community – SSA envisages cooperation between teachers, parents and PRIs, as well as accountability and transparency to the community.
Priority to Education of Girls – Education of girls, especially those belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities, will be one of the principal concerns in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
Focus on Special Groups – There will be a focus on the inclusion and participation of children from SC/ST, minority groups, urban deprived children, children of other disadvantaged groups and children with special needs, in the educational process.
Pre-Project Phase – SSA will commence throughout the country with a well-planned pre-project phase that provides for a large number of interventions for capacity development to improve the delivery and monitoring system. These include provision for household surveys, community-based microplanning and school mapping, training of community leaders, school level activities, support for setting up information system, office equipment, diagnostic studies, etc.
Thrust on Quality – SSA lays a special thrust on making education at the elementary level useful and relevant for children by improving the curriculum, child-centered activities and effective teaching learning strategies.
Role of teachers – SSA recognized the critical and central role of teachers and advocates a focus on their development needs, Setting up of Block Resource Centres/Cluster Resource Centres, recruitment of qualified teachers, opportunities for teacher development through participation in curriculum-related material development, focus on classroom process and exposure visits for teachers are all designed to develop the human resource among teachers.
District Elementary Education Plans – As per the SSA framework, each district will prepare a District Elementary Education Plan reflecting all the investment being made and required in the elementary education sector, with a holistic and convergent approach. There will be a Perspective Plan that will give a framework of activities over a longer time frame to achieve UEE. There will also be an Annual Work Plan and Budget that will list the prioritized activities to be carried out in that year. The Perspective Plan will also be a dynamic document subject to constant improvement in the course of programme implementation.
FINANCIAL NORMS UNDER SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN
The assistance under the programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will be on a 85:15 sharing arrange3ment during the IX Plan, 75:25 sharing arrangement during the X Plan, and 50:50 sharing thereafter between the Central government and state governments.
The State governments will have to maintain their level of investment in elementary education as in 1999-2000. The contribution as state share for SSA will be over and above this investment.
The Government of India would release funds directly to the State implementation Society. The further installments would be released to the Society only after the State Government has transferred its matching funds to the Society and expenditure of at least 5o% of the funds (Centre and States) transferred has been effected.
The support for teacher salary appointed under the SSA programme could be shared between the Central Government and the State government in a ratio of 85:15 during the IX Plan, 75:25 during the X Plan and 50:50 thereafter.
All legal agreements regarding externally assisted projects will continue to apply unless specific modifications have been agreed to, in consultation with foreign funding agencies.
Existing schemes of elementary education of the Department (except Mahila Samakhya, National Bal Bhawan and NCTE) will converge after the IX Plan. The National Programme for Nutritional support to Primary Education (Mid-Day-Meal) would remain a distinct intervention with foodgrains and specified transportation costs being met by the Centre and the cost of cooked meals being met by the State government.
District Education Plans would inter-alia, clearly show the funds/resource available for various components under schemes like PMGY, JGSY, PMRY, Sunishchit Rozgar Yojana, Area fund of MPs/MLAs, /State Plan, foreign funding (if any) and resources generated in the NGO sector.
All funds to be used for upgradation, maintenance, repair of schools and Teaching Learning Equipment and local management to be transferred to VECs/School Management Committees/Gram Panchayat/or any other village/school level arrangement for decentralisation adopted by the State. The village/School Based body may make a resolution regarding the best way of procurement.
Other incentive schemes like distribution of scholarships and uniforms will continue to be funded under the State Plan. They will not be funded under the SSA programme.