Monday, February 22, 2010

Lina Ashar, Chairperson-Kangaroo Kids Education Limited (KKEL)

With the Union Budget just a few days away, there are huge expectations from the budget when it comes to the education sector. With all the changes taking place in the sector it would now have to be backed up with the required funding.

To boost the Primary Education programme in the country, in July 2004, the UPA government decided to levy an Education Cess of two percent on income tax, corporation tax, excise and custom duties and service tax; the amount (expected to yield around Rs 40-50 billion) was to be earmarked for education – SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) and MDM (Mid Day Meals).
Accordingly the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh was created to receive the funds.
The Government needs to provide more clarity on the Education Cess being charged at present. Although the money is directed back into the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) there has to be accountability and transparency on the size of this fund and its use.

2 Key Aspects to this -
1) There is a major variation on the amount collected in different years (between Rs 200 crore to Rs 500 crore) as different agencies of the government - the MHRD (Ministry of HRD), the CAG (Controller General of Accounts) and the Finance Ministry - give different numbers.
2) As per the reports, the education Cess is rapidly reducing the Budget allocations for primary education with the latter getting smaller and smaller each year, with the allocation for this year even less than 2004-05 when there was no cess.
The Budget allocations for primary education in the year 2008-09, according to the revised estimates, was Rs. 19,777 crore, of this, mid-day meal programme and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan account for Rs. 14,844 crore to be paid from the cess. So, the government’s contribution for primary education in 2008-09 was only Rs. 4,933 crore.

A concerted move towards regularizing the School System has to be initiated rather than the stop gap measures being suggested which require a larger national debate and consensus.

Higher education norms need to be regularized; there should be lesser subsidization of higher education and greater thrust must be placed onto vocational education by varied options in the area. Entry of foreign universities should be allowed - the key emphasis should be on value addition; a guarded approach is necessary to prevent the proliferation of money-making ‘fly by night’ organizations.

There has to be a definitive thrust on the use of technology in the education sector as this will benefit both urban and rural students. This would help the delivery of education to become more efficient and upto date. The use of the Unique Identification to keep a track on student’s progress and attendance is a very good step.

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