NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved the proposal of the Department of School Education and Literacy to formulate an Integrated Scheme on School Education by subsuming the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.
The Cabinet also approved an estimated allocation of ₹75,000 crore over the period, which is a 20% increase over the current allocations.
“The vision of the Scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from nursery to senior secondary stage in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal for Education,” the government said in a release. “The main emphasis of the Integrated Scheme is on improving quality of school education by focussing on the two T's - Teacher and Technology.”
The objectives of the scheme across all levels of schooling include the provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students, bridging social and gender gaps in school education, ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education, ensuring minimum standards in schooling provisions, promoting vocationalisation of education, and support states in the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009
“The Scheme gives flexibility to the states and UTs to plan and prioritise their interventions within the scheme norms and the overall resource envelope available to them,” the government added. “It will help improve the transition rates across the various levels of school education and aid in promoting universal access to children to complete school education.”
“The Scheme, by providing quality education, aims to equip the children with varied skills and knowledge essential for their holistic development and prepare them for the world of work or higher education in the future,” it added. “It would lead to an optimal utilisation of budgetary allocations and effective use of human resources and institutional structures created for the erstwhile Schemes.”
The Cabinet also approved the continuation of the Credit Guarantee Fund for Education Loans Scheme and continuation and modification of Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme with a financial outlay of ₹6,600 crore from 2017-18 to 2019-20. This is expected to provide education loans to 10 lakh students during this period.
