Page 161 - DEDU501_DEVELOPMENT_OF_EDUCATION_SYSTEM_ENGLISH

Unit 17: District Primary Education Programme

At present external assistance of about Rs.6,938 crore composing Rs.5,137 as credit from IDA Notes
and Rs.1,801 crore as grant from EC/DFID/UNICEF/Netherlands has been tied-up for DPEP.

Under the Programme parameters, investment per district is limited to Rs.40 crore
over a project period of 5-7 years. There is a ceiling of 33.3 per cent on civil works
component and 6 per cent on management cost. The remaining amount is required to
be spent on quality improvement activities.

17.2 Objectives of DPEP

However, DPEP is not an effort to develop uniform plans. In fact, this goes against the very
premise of the programme. DPEP considers that what is to be done at the district level need to
be decided by those at the district level itself. It is envisaged as a centrally sponsored scheme
with flexible parameters (Department of Education: 1994). These parameters are meant to ensure
that the plan is within the framework of national concerns and priorities.
The objectives of the programme are: (i) to provide access to all children to primary education
through formal primary schools or its equivalent through alternatives; (ii) to reduce overall
dropouts at the primary level less than 10 percent; (iii) to increase achievement levels by 25
percentage points over and above the measured baseline levels; (iv) to reduce disparities of all
types to less than 5 percent.
The focus of each plan may vary depending upon the level of development of primary education
in the selected district. In some districts, the priority may be more on access; in certain cases the
focus may be on retention; and in still other cases the focus may be on achievement. Only a
close scrutiny of the districts in a moe disaggregated fashion can provide us a clue regarding
the areas of emphasis.
The criteria to identify districts under the programme are : i) educationally ward districts with
female literacy below the national average; and ii) districts where have been successful leading
to enhanced demand for primary education. It is quite possible that these two categories of
districts can be from the same state. The priorities and planning concerns may be different in
these two category of the districts.
The problematic of multilevel planning in general and district planning in particular lies in the
satellite imagery view i.e. looking at the people and their problems from above (Misra: 1991).
The common practice of decentralized planning in India confirms to this pattern. The usual
practice is preparing plans for the district at the state level. The district plans are generally seen
as a process of regionalisation of national and state plans. And the effort invariably is to work
out the implementation implications of the state plan.

17.3 Features of DPEP

The success of planning and implementing plans at the district level depends on the freedom to
allocate and reallocate funds by the district level authorities. In India, very often, the funding
decisions are decided at higher levels and hence planning at the local levels becomes an exercise
in dovetailing the priorities set at the state level. The idea of untied funds is seldom effected in
practice. The DPEP envisages providing a lump-sum amount at the disposal of the district to
allocate as per the requirements detailed out in the plans. A maximum of Rs.40 crores (Rs. 400
million) is envisaged for each district. This amount is to be seen as indicative and the actual
allocation depends on the type of programmes envisaged to be carried out in the district plans.
It is to be noted that the planning exercise is not oriented to draw an expenditure plan for the
amount indicated. An indication of the extent of allocation provides an opportunity to the
planners to draw the plan more realistically and an encouragement and confidence that the
amount will be available if plans are drawn logically and consistently.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 155