Govt plans big secondary education spend

The HRD ministry aims to enroll 6.6 million more students in secondary schools in the 11th Plan period.

With almost half the children in the age group of 14-16 years out of the secondary education system, the human resource development (HRD) ministry has made elaborate plans to revamp and expand the system during the 11th Plan period.

The ministry aims to enroll 6.6 million additional students in secondary schools during the period. This, sources said, which contribute in taking the gross enrolment rate to 75 per cent by the end of the 11th Plan period and 100 per cent by the end of the 12th Plan period.

According to the 2004-05 figures, only 24.3 million children out of the 47.1 million in the 14-16 age group (for secondary classes) are in schools. This puts the secondary enrolment rate at 51.65 per cent (2004-05).

The ministry also wants to strengthen 44,000 secondary schools and upgrade 17,000 upper primary schools to secondary level. This will increase the number of secondary schools in the country from three per 100 sq km (or about 10 schools per million people).

With focus on increasing enrolment and reducing the high dropout rates for girls, the ministry wants to set up about 3,500 girl hostels in educationally backward blocks. The gross enrolment rate for girls is only 45.2 per cent compared with 57.4 per cent for boys.

The ministry also wants to recruit about six lakh new teachers to increase the teacher-pupil ratio at the secondary level from 32:1.

Apart from access and equity, the ministry wants to impart quality education by setting up 6,000 model schools in each block for talented rural children.

"Of these 6,000 schools, 500 are proposed to be maintained by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Samiti, which runs the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), while 2,500 will be run on the KV pattern but maintained by state governments. While 500 will be maintained by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, the remaining 2,500 will be run under the PPP mode," said an official.

The ministry also plans to set up about 1,000 KVs in addition to the present 972 and 700 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in addition to the present 573.

For these plans, the ministry is expecting Rs 53,550 crore for secondary education during the 11th Plan period. The allocation during 10th Plan was Rs 4,325 crore. The ministry also proposes to step up the allocation for secondary education from 0.9 per cent to 2 per cent in stages.

"With the successful implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, a large number of students are passing out from upper primary classes and there is huge demand for secondary education," said an official.

A major push to strengthen the secondary school system would be made under centrally-sponsored Scheme for Universalisation of Access to and Improvement of Quality of Education at Secondary Stage (SUCCESS). It will be known as the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Yojana.