(a) whether the Government has launched Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) recently;
(b) if so, the details thereof including its aims and objectives;
(c) whether secondary education is being neglected and the investment
thereon has declined over the years as per a report of the World Bank;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (Dr. D. PURANDESWARI)
(a) & (b) The centrally sponsored scheme “Rashtriya Madhyamik
Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)†was launched in March, 2009 to enhance
access to secondary education and to improve its quality. It seeks
to ensure availability of secondary schools within reasonable
distance of every habitation, improve quality of education imparted
at secondary stage and reduce disparities related to gender, socio-
economic status, geographical location and disability. The sharing
pattern between the Centre and the States during the 11th Five Year
Plan is 75:25, while for the north-eastern States, the ratio is
90:10.Rs. 550 Crore (RE) and Rs. 1500 Crore (RE) were provided for
this scheme in 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. The budget
provision for 2011-12 is Rs. 2423.90 Crore.
(c) & (d) The World Bank Report titled ‘Secondary Education in
India: Universalizing Opportunity’ (January, 2009) states that
‘while India pursued the drive to universal elementary education,
since 2000 the share of investment financing for secondary
education has declined significantly’. As per the “Analysis of
Budgeted Expenditure on Education published by this Ministry, the
SPlan†expenditure on secondary education for both Centre and the
States together increased from Rs.2,200 crore in 2000-01 to Rs.
4114.40 crore (RE) in 2007-08. The total expenditure on secondary
education for both Centre and the States together went up from
Rs.19,743 crore in 2000-01 to Rs.36,693 crore (RE) in 2007-08,
whereas the percentage share of secondary education declined from
32% to 28.11%.
(e) The total allocation for secondary education has been increased
from Rs.4,325 crore in the 10th Plan to Rs.53,550 crore in the 11th
Plan, and several new centrally sponsored schemes including RMSA,
Model School Scheme, Girls’ Hostel Scheme, National Means-cum-Merit
Scholarship and Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education have been
launched during the 11th Plan.