The United Progressive Alliance government on Friday launched a new centrally-sponsored education scheme to achieve its target of universal education by 2020.
The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan aims to enroll 75 per cent of students passing class 8 to secondary level education in the next five years. The scheme aims to enroll 100 per cent class 8 students to the secondary level by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan in 2017 to meet its target of universal education by 2020.
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs has sanctioned Rs 20,120 crores for the project, envisaging the Centre bearing 75 per cent of the cost during the 11th Plan and sharing 50 per cent of the costs with the state governments during the 12th Plan.
The CCEA also gave its nod to the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology, approving Rs 4,612 crores to be spent during the 11th Plan to promote internet education in universities and colleges.
The proposal to improve secondary education was brought forward by the Human Resources Development Ministry, which seeks to provide a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation and introducing a uniform syllabi in secondary schools throughout the country.
Other targets set under the scheme are:
Additional enrolment of 32.20 lakh students by 2011-12;
Appointment of 1.79 lakh additional teachers
Strengthening the resources of the existing 44,000 secondary schools;
Starting 11,188 new secondary schools
Construction of 80,500 additional classrooms.
The scheme will be implemented in a mission mode, with a National Mission headed by the Union Minister for HRD and a Project Approval Board headed by Secretary (School Education and Literacy) to appraise and approve state plans. Similarly, State Missions under chief ministers of the States/Union Territories will be set up to implement the scheme.
