Question : ALLOCATION FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION

(a) the allocation made to various State Governments for primary education/Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan during each of the last three years and the current year, Scheme-wise and State-wise;

(b) the amount actually utilised by the State Governments for the said purpose, State-wise;

(c) the reaction of the Government on the under-utilisation of funds by State Governments and its impact on primary education;

(d) whether the allocation for training and for improving the quality of primary education has been enhanced;

(e) if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the total number of children likely to be enrolled in the country against the target set for the purpose?

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT(SHRI ARJUN SINGH)

(a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 255 FOR 16.12.2008 ASKED BY SHRI FRANCIS FANTHOME AND SHRI ANANTH KUMAR REGARDING ALLOCATION FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION

(a) to (f): State-wise funds provided by Government of India to States/Union Territories and expenditure incurred during the last three years and the current year under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is given in Annexure-I.Information in respect of allocation of funds made to States/Union Territories in respect of Mid Day Meal (MDM) Scheme is given in Annexure-II.

As a result of implementation of SSA and MDM programmes the out of school children in the age group of 6-14 years have declined from 3.20 crore in 2001 to about 45 lakh by March,2008.

Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan several activities have been undertaken to improve the quality of education, which include inter-alia recruitment of teachers to improve the pupil teacher ratio,regular in-service training of teacher every year,free distribution of textbooks at elementary level,regular support to elementary schools through Block and Cluster Resource Centres and periodic independent testing of student achievements levels.