More funds for education scheme

The government will increase the budgetary support for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme in the ensuing Budget, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Tuesday.

Without divulging the actual increase in support, he said the Planning Commission had asked for a significant hike in the budgetary allocation for the scheme.

"The SSA scheme is our flagship programme and there will be a substantial increase in its allocation in the coming Budget," he said at the release of the annual Status of Education Report 2005.

The report brings out the huge deficiencies in the quality of education imparted at the primary level.

"The report shows that only 60 per cent of the children in class five can read a simple story, but it should be at least 95 per cent. The trends are disturbing and need to be addressed," he said.

The Human Resource Development Ministry is toying with the idea of setting up village education commissions at the panchayat level.

"To address the issue of poor quality of education, we are proposing to set up education commissions in villages at the panchayat level and a decision will be taken in that regard," added Ahluwalia.