Cess appeal: go beyond it

On an average, a medium-sized district is eligible, as per SSA norms, to receive funds to the tune of Rs 15-20 crore annually. The district educational establishment does not have the capacity to spend such huge amounts of funds in a year’s time. In most educationally backward states, a large proportion of the funds are earmarked for salaries to teachers who are to be recruited for new schools or in schools where enrolments have shot up significantly. Since many of these states are unable to pay even existing salaries regularly, they are wary of appointing too many new ones.

Another reason for the inability of several states to utilise the funds has has been the requirement of the SSA that states contribute 25 per cent of the amount proposed to be spent. From the year ’07, state governments are expected to contribute 50 per cent. Many states are already finding it difficult to provide their share. Now that the Centre has decided to allocate more funds to elementary education, the states will now have to make enhanced contributions as their share. Since it is unlikely that they can mobilise more resources in the near future, the only solution is for the Centre to waive off the requirement of state contribution. This must be done urgently.

More crucial than additional resources is the need to ensure that funds are targeted based on the twin principles of, one, the actual need of each district, panchayat, village and school and, two, preferential allocation for disadvantaged areas and groups. Several states continue to allocate funds on the ‘principle of equality’, ie, the same amount for each block and school irrespective of need. This equality has only deepened disparities in terms of schools, buildings and teachers. What is needed is the use of well-publicised norms to allocate funds and locate specific interventions, so that geographical areas, groups and schools that had earlier been deprived now receive a lion’s share of funds and attention.

Decentralised decision making with people’s participation is crucial to universalise elementary education. In several states, the political will to decentralise responsibility and powers for elementary education to the panchayats and parents’ groups has been lacking, despite the the mandate of the 73rd constitutional amendment. It is well known that the education bureaucracy at the district and sub-district levels lacks initiative and transferring more funds only through the official machinery will bring limited results. Linked to this, is the issue of transparency in programme implementation and the need to put in place mechanisms through which the education system is made to feel accountable. The focus of accountability of the education system has to shift from enrolment to learning. This would require a comprehensive set of measures to assess student performance on a regular basis; arrangements to provide extra support to low-achieving students and poor performing schools; a system of rewards and sanctions to hold educational administrations and schools responsible for student performance. These activities should be made mandatory by including them in the pending central legislation on free and compulsory education.

The ultimate objective, however, is to promote accountability of the education system and the schools to the parents and community. This is the toughest challenge, as it requires changing mindsets and empowering communities and bodies like panchayats. The educational administration would also need to be more sensitive to the special needs of children in difficult circumstances, like those with disabilities or who migrate with their parents, for instance.

Anyone who has worked in or with the education bureaucracy at the state, district and sub-district levels, would know how deep-rooted corruption is. Yet the issue is rarely discussed. Pumping in more funds will increase the extent of corruption unless appropriate transparency and accountability mechanisms are put in place quickly. It is unlikely that such a shift can be ensured for the education sector alone. Effective reform, then, will have to be linked to an overall improvement in governance.

This does not mean that additional funds are not needed or desirable. School infrastructure needs to be improved, mid-day meal programmes need to be expanded, and this would definitely require more funds. But, it is crucial to realise that there are huge, systemic changes required if the goal of quality basic education for all children is to be achieved.

Let us also not forget the importance of pre-school education in the overall development of a child. Part of the cess on taxes could be allocated to help establish a compulsory pre-school stage of at least a year, that is linked to formal school. Another contender for a share of the cess is the supplementary nutrition programme under ICDS. We need to think out of the box because elementary education is about improved lives, not just about learning.

The writer is at present director, Ministry of HRD. He has worked as project director, DPEP and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan