Taking forward the proposed education reforms, the government today said it would launch Madhyam Shiksha Abhiyan programme to check the drop out rate in higher education.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal also said in Lok Sabha that the government has no policy to introduce "uniform syllabus" in all the universities.
"We want to take Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan forward as Madhyam Shiksha Abhiyan as the drop out rate increases in higher education," he said during Question Hour.
On the issue of complaints regarding diversion of funds by states under the SSA, Sibal added the performance audit report for 2001-02 to 2004-05, submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in August 2006, indicated that Rs 53 crore can be classified as expenditure not covered under the SSA guidelines.
In addition, reports from states have indicated instances of financial irregularities, he said, adding, the SSA scheme is under constant review by several bodies.
He, however, shared that as there were lakhs of schools across the country, it was not possible to carry out audit of each and every school and the CAG takes a sample audit.
"The government has directed the states/UTs to recover the inadmissible expenditure to the state SSA programmes. They have also been strictly instructed to avoid recurrence of such instances in future," the Minister said.
Ruling out introduction of "uniform syllabus" in all universities, Sibal said "Let there be creativity. Let there be competition among universities. So this is not government's policy to introduce uniform syllabus in universities."
There may be a university focussing on bio-science and another on humanities, he said adding that let the student choose the university based on his or her preference.
He, however, said there should be a CBSE (class 10th or 12th) degree for skilled education as children want jobs immediately after completing school rather than pursuing professional courses.
On the Yash Pal Committee recommendations on education, Sibal informed the report was under government's consideration.
The committee has recommended creation of an all-encompassing National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), a constitutional body to replace existing regulatory bodies including the UGC, All India Council for Technical Education and National Council for Teachers Education.
