Education being 145;a loser146;, Arjun blasts Plan paper

On 6 allocation for education, the minister said, 8220;Raising public expenditure on education to the level of 6 of GDP has been a national commitment for nearly 40 years now. The CMP said the UPA government pledged to raise public spending on education to at least 6 of GDP, with at least half this amount being spent on primary and secondary sectors. This will be done in a phased manner.8221;

He added, 8220;While the revised draft does say that the 11th Plan should ensure that we move towards raising public spending in education to 6 of GDP, it still does not lay down a clear timeframe for this. I would strongly plead that the paper make an unequivocal commitment to attaining the level by the end of the 11th Plan.8221;

Singh8217;s other problems with the Plan paper are:

On right to education: While the paper does refer to the constitutional obligation on Right to Education, it does not spell out the strategy proposed for financing the state8217;s obligation in this regard. 8220;This cannot be allowed to become an issue to be tossed around the Centre and the states.8221;

On midday meal: Extension of midday meal programme to upper primary and secondary schools in a phased manner is another CMP commitment, which is still missing from the approach paper8230; the Plan must at least aim to extend this programme to upper primary schools.

On Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan 038; MDM merger: While SSA and MDM need to be convergently implemented in the field, their formal merger, which continues to be advocated in the paper, is avoidable as they have very different scope and mechanism.

On secondary education: The revised paper stops at mentioning universalisation of education up to Class X as a desirable goal. This is not enough. The universalisation should be up to Class XII.

On scholarships: The 11th Plan must come out boldly in favour of giving Central assistance for pre and post-matriculation scholarships to children of SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities subject to a means test and at adequate rates. 8220;Is such a major expansion is not possible at one go, the expansion may, in the first instance, target girls from these groups and then cover boys later. Also, rates of these scholarships for girls should be higher than boys.8221;

Beyond our power to report to SC: House panel

NEW DELHI: The Parliamentary Standing committee attached to the HRD Ministry on Wednesday refused to get drawn into the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court8217;s order asking it to give a report on the reservation Bill in a 8220;sealed cover8221;. Panel members said it has not received a 8220;written communication8221; yet. The members, in their first meeting on the Reservation Bill, also observed that 8220;it is beyond the powers of the committee to report to the SC8221; as any report produced is a property of the Parliament. The committee, however, decided to call Oversight Committee chairman Veerappa Moily, along with representatives from the National Commission for Backward Classes NCBC and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions NCMEI. A member, on condition of anonymity, said: 8220;It was decided that the committee will hear their point of view to understand the expansion plan, creamy layer concept and the exclusion of minority institutions from the ambit of the OBC quota Bill.8221; 8212; ENS