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Development of Education System

Notes • India had not been seeking financial support from external agencies to implement its
programmes of basic education.
• With the objective of mobilising all the resources – human, financial and institutional –
necessary for achieving the goal of UEE by the year 2000, a National Elementary Education
Mission (NEEM) was set up in August 1995 with the District Primary Education Programme
(DPEP) as its core. This Mission will monitor and implement all the meticulously formulated
strategies based on microplanning
• The total enrolment at the primary and upper primary school levels in India has witnessed
a steady increase. Total enrolment at the primary stage (grades I-V) increased 6 times from
19.2 million in 1950-51 to about 128.3 million in 2003-2004. Total enrolment at the Upper
Primary levels (grades VI- VIII) increased by 14 times, from 3.1 million in 1950-51 to 48.7
million in 2000-2001.
• Elementary education should be developed on priority basis and percentage of budget under
this sector should be suitably raised. There has been a decline in expenditure in this sector.
From 55 percent of the total educational budget
• Cost on elementary education may be rationalised by:
(a) Introducing double shift wherever possible.
(b) Harnessing community resources in men, material and monetary terms.
• The single point entry system must be replaced by multiple entry system under which it will
be open for older children of 9, 11 or 14 to join primary schools in separate classes organised
for their needs.
• Facilities such as free supply of books and stationery, free uniforms and school means can be
helpful in retaining children in schools.
• Since the formulation of the National Policy on education—NPE, (1986) and the Programme
of Action—POA (1986), several new schemes for the qualitative as well as quantitative
improvement of primary education and reaching the goal of UEE.
• DPEP launched in 1993 is a national initiative to achieve Universalisation of Elementary
Education (UEE) through district level intervention. The overall goal of the programme is
the reconstruction of primary education system to operationalise the strategy of UEE as
envisaged in NPC 1986 (as updated in 1992) and its Programme of Action—POA (1992)
through decentralised planning and management, disaggregated target setting.
• The objectives of DPEP are:
(i) to reduce difference in enrolment, drop-out and learning achievement among gender and
social groups to less than 5 per cent.
• A nation-wide programme of NP-NSPE launched on August 15, 1995 is intended to give a
boost to universalisation of primary education by increasing enrolment, retention and
attendance.
• Shiksha Karmi Project started in Rajasthan in 1987 remained in operation up to June 1998. It
was a scheme jointly sponsored by Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA),
Government of India and the State of Rajasthan
• The scheme of Operation Blackboard started in 1987, is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for
bringing about improvement in primary education by providing additional facilities to the
schools already established.
• There are three components of Operation Blackboard:
1. Provision of at least two reasonably large rooms that are usable in all weathers, with
a deep veranda along with separate toilet facilities for boys and girls.
2. Provision of at least two teachers, as far as possible, one of them a woman, in every
primary school.
3. Provision of essential teaching and learning materials.

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