Page 171 - DEDU501_DEVELOPMENT_OF_EDUCATION_SYSTEM_ENGLISH

Unit 18: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

18.6 Types of Plans Notes

Sarva Shiksha Abhhiyan has time bound objectives. It means that the goals and the objectives of
the programme are to be achieved within stipulated period. Thus, planning under SSA is to
review the present scenario in a state, district, block or village, to identify the needs and
propose interventions to fill the gaps in order to achieve the goals of the programme.
SSA envisages the preparation of District Elementary Education Plan (DEEP) – a comprehensive
Plan of Action for the educational improvement of the whole district.
(i) SSA requires two types of plans-annual and perspective. An annual plan proposes the
interventions for a year and the perspective those over a longer period. A perspective
plan shows the perspective of the state. It provides the long term strategies of the state
with a vision to accomplish the goals of the programme. The perspective plan provides
estimates of the fund requirement alongwith phased out interventions over the period for
achieving the goals. On the other hand, an annual plan prioritizes the activities to be
undertaken in a particular year in the context of the targets provided in the perspective
plans. SSA framework clearly provides the difference between the two plans as “while the
objective of the perspective is to assess and plan for unfinished UEE agenda in a particular
district, the annual plan is an exercise in prioritization”. While, the perspective plans are
to be prepared upto year 2010, the financial component should be prepared only for 10th
plan period.
(ii) An annual plan or perspective plan in SSA is not merely a statement of interventions and
the financial implications thereof. It provides a picture of present educational scenario and
a number of interventions to achieve the goal of Universalisation. However, much more
important than providing this information is the process through which the plans have
been formulated. The plans have to be developed through a participatory planning process
and the interventions proposed therein should help to achieve the objectives of the
programme. An attempt has been made in the following paragraphs to provide an overview
of the planning process, how the plans should be developed, what should be in the plans,
how interventions are to be proposed and what data is required at each level.

18.6.1 Identifications of Issues and Interventions
Once the consulting process has taken place at various levels highlighting the problems and
issues, the next step is to identify the problems and needs in the light of educational and
general information and studies that have been conducted earlier. The assessment of the
educational situation will lead to the identification of problems, needs and constraints of
elementary education in the district. The problems related to access, enrolment, retention
and quality of education need to be identified and reflected in the District Elementary
Education Plan.
18.6.2 Target setting

In order to meet the SSA goal of UEE, it is important to achieve the basic objectives of universal
access, universal enrolment, universal retention and universal achievement within the stipulated
time period.
Various states are at various levels in the field of education. Thus, it may be possible for some
states or districts to achieve the SSA goals before the target dates. It may, therefore, be essential
for districts to set their own targets within the overall time frame of the programme. The
targets have to be set realistically in a phased manner. There is a need to set dis-aggregated
targets (preferably block wise) for disadvantageous and other groups on the basis of gender.
Targets can vary from district to district and within a district, from block to block.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 165