A round up of recent answers by the Minstry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to questions raised in the Lok Sabha, relating to education.
Details on the shortage of school teachers in India (state-wise)
Out of 19.84 lakh sanctioned teacher posts under SSA, 14.8 lakh teachers have been recruited and another 5.04 lakh are yet to be recruited as on Sep, 30, 2013. Bihar (1.75 lakh to be recruited) and U.P (1.24 lakh) are the farthest behind.
(Source: Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 188 Answered on 18.12.2013)
On use of NCERT vs private publishers' textbooks in CBSE schools
"The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has, since 2005-06, directed all its affiliated schools to refrain from recommending the books of private publishers in different subjects at the senior secondary level. The CBSE now prescribes only the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) published books for classes IX to XII."
(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2101 Answered on 18.12.2013
On the requirement of an NOC from the State Government concerned for affiliation of a private school with CBSE NOC from the State Government concerned for affiliation of a private school with CBSE.
"The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) no longer requires an NOC from the State Government. CBSE has amended its Affiliation Bye-Laws which state that the school seeking provisional affiliation with the Board must have prior recognition of the State/UT Government. The applicant School has to also produce evidence to this effect that they had intimated the concerned Education Department of the State/UT about the application made to the CBSE for seeking affiliation with the Board. In case of receipt of any objection during the process of application of the school, the Board may ask the concerned school to produce the No Objection Certificate from the State/UT Government. Otherwise it would be assumed that concerned State/UT Government has no objection.
The newly amended provision ensures authentication of the facts and credentials of the private school as the applicant school is required to seek recognition from the State/UT Government prior to submitting its application for seeking affiliation from the Board. The Board also physically inspects the applicant school to assess its suitability before the grant of affiliation."(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2140 Answered on 18.12.2013)
On the proposal to open Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode; the norms laid down for opening of KVs in the country; the number of KVs functioning in the country along with the students enrolled in these KVs, State/ UT-wise
"The Board of Governors of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) in its 91st meeting held on 19.01.2012 has taken a policy decision that the scheme of opening of new Kendriya Vidyalayas under the Public Private Parternership (PPP mode) is not in line with the mandate of the KVS."
(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2199 Answered on 18.12.2013)
"Presently 1091 KVs are functioning in the country." - State/UT-wise details along with enrollment data and norms for opening new KVs.
(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 1115 Answered on 11.12.2013)
Detailed data on the gross-enrolment rate* (GER) of children in primary, upper-primary, secondary and senior secondary levels in the country during 2008-09 to 2010-11, state-wise, year-wise and gender-wise.
For India as a whole, GER is
- 116.7 at the Primary level (Class I-V);
- 83.1 at the Upper Primary level (Class VI-VIII);
- 60.8 at the Secondary level (Class IX-X) and
- 36.1 at the Senior Secondary Level (Class XI-XII)
(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2296 Answered on 18.12.2013)
On the overall government expenditure on Education (Centre + States) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during last three years, comparison with the same figures for other countries and why the goal of spending at least 6% of GDP hasn't been achieved.
Overall government expenditure on Education (Centre + States) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)"As per the figures published by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) in its publication titled, “Global Education Digest 2012”, the share of education in Gross Domestic Product in some other countries were U.S.A.(5.4%), U.K.(5.6%), Japan (3.8%), Australia (5.1%), Russian Federation (4.1%), Egypt (3.8%), Azerbaijan (3.2%), Georgia (3.2%), Tajikistan (4.0%), Hong Kong SAR of China (3.6 %), Thailand (3.8%), Peru (2.7%), Jamaica (6.1%), Pakistan (2.4%), Bangladesh (2.2%), Ethiopia (4.7%), United Republic of Tanzania (6.2%) and Zambia (1.3%) during 2010.
- 3.95% - 2009-10
- 4.20% - 2010-11 (Revised Estimate)
- 4.17% - 2011-12 (Budget Estimate)
During the XII Five Year Plan, the Ministry of Human Resource Development have been allocated a sum of Rs.4,53,728 crore (Rs.3,43,028 crore for the Department of School Education & Literacy and Rs.1,10,700 crore for the Department of Higher Education) as compared to actual expenditure in XI Five Year Plan which was Rs.1,77,566.86 crore (Rs.1,37,920.04 crore for the Department of School Education & Literacy and Rs.39,646.82 crore for Department of Higher Education). This increase in central plan outlay for education represents a very substantial effort on the part of the Central Government for raising public spending on education towards the national goal of spending 6% of GDP for education. Overall progress towards this goal, would however, also depend on the efforts made by the States and the private sector.
This increase in central plan outlay for education represents a very substantial effort on the part of the Central Government for raising public spending on education towards the national goal of spending 6% of GDP for education. Overall progress towards this goal, would however, also depend on the efforts made by the States and the private sector."
(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 1085 Answered on 11.12.2013)
