By IANS
New Delhi : India needs to double its spending on education to six percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to make primary education universal, the Economic Survey 2007-08 said Thursday.
“It’s imperative to give good quality elementary education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years,” the survey said.
“Policies and programmes in this direction are also necessary for honouring country’s commitment to… ‘Education for All’ as well as commitment under the National Common Minimum Programme (of the United Progressive Alliance government) for increasing public expenditure to 6 percent of GDP.”
Praising government programmes in boosting secondary education, the survey said the number of secondary and higher secondary schools have increased from 7,416 in 1951 to 152,049 in 2005.
“Total enrolment in higher secondary has increased correspondingly from 1.5 million in 1951 to 37.1 million in 2005.”
However, the survey said that with the rapid growth of the Indian economy, coupled with the need to improve quality of life and reduced poverty, skill development is essential in schools.
“It’s essential that a student at the end of the secondary education acquires a level of knowledge and skills.”
There has been significant growth in higher education during 2005-06. According to the University Grants Commission, enrolment in various courses was 11.34 million in 2005-06 as against 10.50 million the previous year.
Of the total, 4.58 million were women students (40.39 percent).
“With the increased demand for higher quality of education, training of teachers has become even more important and out of the box thinking is required to ensure adequate supply of quality teachers.”
The survey has also lauded Sarva Shikha Abhiyan (SSA), saying 170,320 school buildings have been constructed under the programme till September 2007.
It added that SSA has done some good work in reducing school dropouts and improving learning conditions.
The programme aims to enable elementary schoolchildren to enrol in higher schools by 2010.