Estimate the cost of education for all in India

Abstract

Elementary education has been the most significant sector of the education system in India since 1960’s. Government of India time to time has appointed committees to estimate the cost of education for primary school in India. Starting with Kothari commission in 1964-66 which has recommended the common school for primary education which will bring together people of different caste and religions together. Kothari commission also recommended the structure of the education system and provided taxonomy of school education based on the number of years required to complete each stage which is primary, secondary, higher secondary and degreei . Based on the recommendation India has shaped its first National policy on education. However, in 1986 the policy was reviewed and to bring the parity in all social classes and religion GOI framed second National policy on education which has put emphasis in three following things. • Universal access to each student • Quality improvement on various stages • Universal retention of student till the age of 14ii The NEP was again revised in 1992 by P.V. Narsimha Rao to keep intact the value of socialism, democracy and secularism.in 1998 due to modernisation of education GOI has appointed Tapas Majumdar committee to calculate the expenditure of education in India. The committee proposed the expenditure of Rs.1.37 lakh croresiii over the time frame of 10 years to provide the education to all children in age group 6-14 in India. This has supported the right to education for all. The aim of the study is to evaluate the various components of public expenditure by Gujarat government and develop a model school in order to provide top quality education to children aged between 6-14 in the state. The study involves developing a model incorporating digital learning infrastructure in school and also basic infrastructure facilities as stated in Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. In order to develop a model, we did secondary research for the data of existing expenditure done by state & central government, statistics of quality of education and challenges. However, to learn more on challenges faced by government primary teachers we have interviewed one head master and three primary school teachers. We have also taken help from Prof. Arnab Goswami (IIM Bangalore) to understand and analyse this data on primary education. The study is limited to state of Gujarat however our base of the study is SSA hence the study can be implemented across the states with modification.