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Maharashtra budget: Allocation for school education up marginally

While higher education has been completely neglected in the budget, an amount of Rs90 crore has been kept aside for construction works of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), vocational schools and polytechnic colleges.

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The state government on Wednesday allotted Rs1,280 crore for two central government projects related to school-level education — Rs780 crore for the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) clubbed with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), and Rs500 crore for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shikshan Abhiyan, which addresses secondary education. According to sources in the state education department, this marks a marginal increase in allocation for the school education sector since last year.

According to an official from the department, the total requirement to carry out projects under the SSA and the RTE is around Rs3,500 crore. Seventy-five per cent of the funding is to be borne by the Centre. This budget outlay, which was proposed to the Centre, included the cost of infrastructure projects, recruitment of teachers, and quality improvement projects.

The official said, “Thirty-three per cent of the funding goes for construction-related work. New training programmes will be designed for teachers. Projects aimed at better sanitation and drinking water facilities have also been taken up.”

While higher education has been completely neglected in the budget, an amount of Rs90 crore has been kept aside for construction works of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), vocational schools and polytechnic colleges.

A provision of Rs224.97 crore has been proposed for 2011-12 under the golden jubilee pre-matric scholarships for tribal students. This is to prevent students from dropping out and to ensure regular attendance of scheduled tribe (ST) students of Stds I to X.

The state has also made a provision of Rs40 crore for this financial year for pre-matric scholarships for economically weaker meritorious students from minority communities. Thirty per cent of this allocation would be earmarked for girl students.

Usha Rane, director, training, at NGO Pratham said: Usha Rane, Director, training, Pratham:  “The state has performed well in terms of providing infrastructure in schools. They have been giving a good sum of money towards the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme. However, there are some important aspects like facilities for teachers and drinking water facilities that need to be looked into.”

She added: “Also, while the state is looking at providing good primary education, it should also focus on secondary schools. If students are promoted to higher classes and there are no schools available in the vicinity, students will have to discontinue education. The ideal allocation towards education should be 6% of the total budget, but at present it works out to be a little less. However, Maharashtra is performing better than other states in terms of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.”

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