Question : UNESCO AID FOR EDUCATION

(a) whether a large number of children do not have access to primary education and are out of school and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;

(b) whether any target has been fixed to provide education to all by the year 2015 and if so, the details thereof along with the plan chalked out by the Government to achieve the same;

(c) whether the UNESCO has reduced financial assistance/aid for education to India and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(d) whether there exist a gender literacy gap and if so, the details thereof along with the corrective action taken in this regard?

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the table of the House .

Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 307 for 30.07.2014 raised by Shri Anant Kumar Hegde and Shri C.N Jayadeven regarding UNESCO Aid for Education.

(a) & (b) The Government of India had commissioned two independent surveys to estimate the number of out-of-school children in the country in 2005 and 2009 which shows a decline in the number of out of school children from 134.6 lakh in 2005 to 81.5 lakh in 2009. According to the data provided by the States/UTs in 2014 the number of Out-of-School children estimated is 17.24 lakh. An amount of Rs.339.97 crore has been sanctioned to States/UTs under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme, for providing inter alia special training centres such children to provide flexible bridge courses, to enable them to mainstream into schools, subsequently.

(c) India does not receive any economic aid from UNESCO for supporting education in the country.

(d) The literacy gap between the males and females in India as per the 2011 Census is 16.25 percentage points. The Government has launched the Saakshar Bharat scheme, to raise the literacy levels of persons of 15 years and above, in the country, with special focus on districts with low female literacy rates.