Economic Survey 2018: Utmost priority to social infra like education, health

The Economic Survey 2017-18 says that utmost priority has been given to social infrastructure like education, health and social protection by the government to engineer an inclusive and sustainable growth for India.

The survey highlights that there is a substantial improvement in enrolment and completion rates in education in both primary and elementary levels at schools. It also takes note of the increased percentage of schools which comply with the Student Classroom Ratio (SCR) and Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) at the all-India level.

The survey highlights government's commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG- 4) for education. It mentioned the significant progress made in universalising primary education, with substantial improvement in the enrolment and completion rates of education of children in both primary and elementary school. The survey takes note of the increased percentage of schools which comply with the Student Classroom Ratio (SCR) and Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) at the all-India level. This was stated in the Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in Parliament on Monday by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley.

The survey, however, notes the inter-state variations in the adherence to Student Classroom Ratio (SCR) and Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTR) norms. Taking note of the substantially improved Gender Parity Index (GPI) at the primary and secondary levels of school enrolment with the consistent efforts of the government, the survey acknowledges the success of programmes like Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao in addressing issues of gender bias in access to education.