Addressing 'Teacher Awardees' on the eve of Teacher's Day, Singh said the last eight years had seen a significant increase in enrolment of children in primary schools and a decline in the gender gap in elementary education.
"However, the poor levels of student learning remain a major concern. Therefore, as we move ahead we need a clear shift in our strategy from a focus on inputs, access and enrolment to what goes on in the classroom and the school," Singh said.
He said there was a need to set up transparent and reliable systems for tracking attendance of children in a truly meaningful way.
"At the same time, we need to put in place a system of continuous assessment of the benefit our children are getting from their education. Participation of the community and parents would be essential in this process, so that they can be satisfied with the quality of teaching," the Prime Minister said.
Singh said there was a significant reduction in socio- economic inequalities in access to education and a narrowing of the gap between SCs/STs, minorities and other social groups.
He said the government has substantially increased public spending on education since 2004-05. (More)
