Eleventh Five Year Plan

8 Eleventh Five Year PlanBox 1.1.1Best Practices under MDMSIn Tamil Nadu, Health Cards are issued to all children andSchool Health Day is observed every Thursday. Curryleaves and drum-stick trees are grown in the school premises.In Karnataka, all schools have gas-based cooking.In Pondicherry, in addition to the mid-day meal (MDM),Rajiv Gandhi Breakfast Scheme provides for a glass of hotmilk and biscuits. In Bihar, Bal Sansad (Child Cabinet) isactively involved in the orderly distribution of MDM. InUttaranchal, mothers are appointed as Bhojan Mata andSahayika in primary schools. In Gujarat, Chhattisgarh,and MP children are provided micronutrients and dewormingmedicines under MDMS.district levels for effective monitoring are yet to be setup in some States. There are no details on coverageand facilities in EGS/AIE centres in urban areas. ThePlanning Commission has undertaken a detailedevaluation study in 2006–07 to assess the impact ofthe MDMS. On the whole, despite the prevalence ofgood practices, a systematic supervision and monitoringof the programme and transparency in implementationare lacking in most of the States.1.1.43 Notwithstanding these shortcomings, MDMSappears to have had a positive impact on school attendanceand nutritional status of children throughremoval of classroom hunger. 6 The latest NationalSample Survey (NSS) (61st Round) covered MDMSalong with Annapurna Integrated Child DevelopmentServices (ICDS) Scheme, and Food for Work Programme.It is reported that MDMS has benefited 8.1% ofrural population and 3.2% of urban population. Thetotal coverage of all the four programmes was 11% inrural and 4.1% in urban areas. MDMS has catered tothe nutritional needs of low-income groups in bothrural and urban areas.ELEVENTH PLAN: GOALS, TARGETS, ANDSTRATEGIES IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION1.1.44 The Constitution of India was amended in 2002to make elementary education a justiciable FundamentalRight. However, 7.1 million children being out ofschool and over 50% dropping out at elementary levelare matters of serious concern. SSA would, therefore,be reoriented to meet the challenges of equity, retention,and high-quality education. This would require astrong rights orientation within the programme. It isnecessary to consider passing appropriate legislation forthis purpose. SSA would be restructured into a NationalMission for Quality Elementary Education to ensureminimum norms and standards for schools (both governmentand private). It would address access, quality,and equity holistically though a systems approach.1.1.45 The backlog for additional classrooms is about6.87 lakh. Opening of about 20000 new primaryschools and upgradation of about 70000 primaryschools are required.TABLE 1.1.6Schools without Basic Facilities, 2005–06(Percentages)Facilities Primary Upper Primary2004–05 2005–06 2004–05 2005–06Building 3.5 3.0 2.8 2.4Toilets 51.4 44.6 16.8 15.3Drinking water 16.3 15.1 4.7 4.8Source: DISE data, 2005–06, NUEPA.1.1.46 Unless there is a strong effort to address thesystemic issues of regular functioning of schools,teacher attendance and competence, accountability ofeducational administrators, pragmatic teacher transferand promotion policies, effective decentralizationof school management, and transfer of powers toPanchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), it would be difficultto build upon the gains of SSA. It is important to focuson good quality education of common standards, pedagogy,and syllabi to ensure minimum learning levels.TABLE 1.1.7Elementary Schools by Management(in lakh)Stages of Govt. Local Private Private TotalEducation Bodies Aided UnaidedI–V 3.32 3.60 0.20 0.55 7.67VI–VIII 1.18 0.80 0.18 0.59 2.75I–VIII 4.50 4.40 0.38 1.14 10.42Source: Selected Educational Statistics, 2004–05.6J. Dreze and A. Goyal (2003), The Future of Mid-day Meals, EPW, 38(44), Nov. 1–7, pp. 4673–84.