Budget 2018: India needs to focus on inclusive education for development

Budget 2018 allocations to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan by the Government of India remains far below the resource estimates submitted by the HRD ministry

Eklavya, the archery prodigy from the ancient Indian epic The Mahabharata, could never attend the school of his choice. The social status ascribed to him by birth did not allow him to study with the privileged in the social hierarchy. 2500 years hence, and 70 years after independence, elementary education in India is still deeply segregated. A majority of children from socio-economically disadvantaged families attend government schools while children from more privileged families attend high or middle income private schools. Besides depriving children of the well documented benefits of diverse classrooms, this segregation has a direct correlation to the nature