What is Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan? What did the Government discovered after evaluating the previous schemes?

The human resource development ministry is launching the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Which it hopes would be unveiled on October 2 – the Gandhi birth anniversary – by the Union Cabinet. The SSA’s goal to universalize elementary education, envisages a convergence of the plethora of schemes in the primary school sector-a shift from a supply driven to a demand-driven system and decentralization down to the district level.

The framework and design for the SSA leaves little to be desired. But government officials working on it admit that it does not take into account the human factor. The many interventions in the elementary education sector since the National Policy on Education was announced in 1986- be it Operation Blackboard, Teacher Education, Non-Formal Education, Mahila Samakhya, or National Programme for Nutritional Support for Primary Education – have in some measure made a difference. But it is yet unclear how their convergence will improve the delivery system or quality.

In its evaluation of the schemes, the government discovered.

I. While Operation Blackboard had resulted in more teachers, rooms and teaching/learning materials, utilization of equipment and community involvement in the implementation process left a lot to be desired.

II. Under the teacher Education scheme, the expansion of the District Institutes of Education and Training had failed to provide academic leadership at the district level.

III. The nutritional support scheme is fraught with administrative problems of delivery as well as its effectiveness for enrolment of children.

IV. While the DPEP districts indicated that decentralized planning contributed towards a more meaningful community involvement with improvement in enrolment, achievements in the learning process and the quest for universal primary education were still modest.

V. The Total Literacy Campaign had contributed to an appreciable increase in the children’s enrolment in the environment building phase, but it had failed to provide adequate schooling facilities. Lack of improvement in pedagogical process had often led to children dropping out after the initial euphoria.