Lok Sabha Question No. 1247 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-11
Subject: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: K. C. VENUGOPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1247 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 th  February, 2019

## Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

## 1247. SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a)  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  quality  of  education  under  Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA);

(b)  whether  the  Government  has  adopted  any  mechanism  to  evaluate  the  progress  of  various objectives of the scheme;

(c) if so, the details thereof;

(d) the targeted achievements under the scheme during the last five years; and

(e) the measures taken by the Government to implement the scheme particularly in rural regions of the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a)  to  (c):  The  erstwhile  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA)  was under implementation since 2000-2001 for universalization of elementary education in consultation and coordination with States/UTs throughout the country. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan included several interventions  for improvement of quality of education like; in-service training of  teachers  and  schools  heads,  conduct  of  achievement  surveys  at  National  and  State  level, composite  school  grant  to  every  school  for  providing  a  conducive  learning  environment, provision of textbooks and school uniforms as per  Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education  (RTE)  Act,  2009,  Rashtriya  Avishkar  Abhiyan  (RAA),  remedial  teaching  for academically  weaker  students,  ICT  and  digital  initiatives,  School  Evaluation,    Padhe  Bharat Badhe Bharat (PBBB) and Performance Indicators for Teachers (PINDICS). Besides, amendment of Section 23(2) of the RTE Act to extend the period for training of untrained inservice  elementary  teachers  to  31st  March,  2019  and  amendment  of  Central  rules  to  the  RTE Act, 2009 to include reference on class-wise, subject-wise Learning Outcomes, have also been made to improve the quality of education under SSA.

The  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  SSA  has  an  inbuilt  concurrent  evaluation  and monitoring system. The Ministry of Human Resource Development convenes periodic meetings with State Education Ministers and Secretaries to review the programmes. Educational data is collected  through  a  Unified  District  Information  System  for  Education  (UDISE)  every  year  to assess  the  progress.   A  National  Achievement  Survey  (NAS)  across  all  States  and  UTs  was conducted on 13.11.2017 to assess the learning achievement of students of classes 3, 5 and 8. The status  of  these  evaluations  and  monitoring  is  placed  in  the  public  domain  on  the  Ministry's website.  Further,  an  All  India  Performance  Audit  on  Implementation  of  RTE  Act.  2009  was conducted by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG) for the period extending from 2010-11 to 2015-16 and accordingly Report No. 23 of 2017 has been laid on the Table of the Parliament on 21.07.2017.  An independent third party evaluation of the SSA Scheme was also conducted in 2017-18. It has pointed out that SSA  achieved considerable success in universalizing  access  and  strengthening  of  infrastructure  in  schools.  It  has  appreciated  the enhanced focus of SSA on quality of education in recent years.

(d) & (e): Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) was operational from the financial year 2000-2001 till 2017-18. The programme was conceived as additional support to the States and UTs to achieve Universal Elementary  Education  available, accessible and affordable. Subsequent  to the enactment  of  the  RTE  Act,  2009  by  Parliament,  the  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan    guidelines  were revised to harmonize with RTE provisions in the year 2010. Its overall goals included universal access and retention, bridging of gender and social category gaps in education and enhancement of learning levels of children.

Under SSA financial assistance  is  provided  to  States  and  UTs  for  undertaking  various activities  to  increase  the  access  of    school  children  which    includes  opening  of  new  schools, construction of schools & additional classrooms, opening of  Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV), and setting up of  residential   schools/hostels.

As reported by States/UTs in their Annual Work Plan and Budget, 2018-19, 97.15% of habitations in the country are covered by primary schools and 96.49% of habitations are covered by upper primary schools. The habitations that remain uncovered are mostly small or sparsely populated in difficult areas where opening of school is not feasible.

Since the inception of SSA in 2001 till 2017-18, sanction has been given for construction of    3,12,747  school  buildings,  18,89,689  additional  classrooms,   2,40,564  drinking  water facilities,  3,99,351  Boys  toilets  and  5,22,398  girls  toilets.    States  and  UTs  have  reported construction  of  2,95,382  school  buildings,  18,08,452  additional  classrooms,  2,33,956  drinking water facilities 3,76,857  boys toilets and 5,10,210 girls toilets as on 30.09.2018.  Besides, till date 5970 KGBV, 333 residential schools and 677 hostels have also been approved. The scheme is implemented throughout the country irrespective of caste, religion or area.

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