Date:01/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/01/stories/2007070160891000.htm

Tamil Nadu

Ministry compiling data on demand for secondary education

Meera Srinivasan

Entrusts varsity with task of generating status reports

“There are 1.2 million elementary schools and only 1.52 lakh secondary schools
It is this gap the Ministry of Human Resource Development is trying to bridge

CHENNAI: With about two-and-a-half-years left in the time frame set for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA-Education for all movement), the Ministry of Human Resource Development has deemed it necessary to study the demand for secondary education in the country and make the required provisions soon.

It has roped in the services of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) to generate status reports from different regions of the country. The NUEPA is an autonomous university funded by the Ministry. The project, expected to span 18 months, will be facilitated by the NUEPA’s Department of Educational Planning.

Department head S.M.I.A. Zaidi, who was here for the recent southern regional workshop on ‘Mapping provisions in Secondary and Higher Secondary schools,’ spoke to The Hindu about the plan of action. The workshop, held be tween June 26 and 28, was fourth in a series of workshops being held in different parts of the country.

“There are nearly 1.2 million elementary schools and only about 1.52 lakh secondary schools in the country. It is this gap the Ministry of Human Resource Development is focussing on,” he said.

“Thanks to the SSA, there has been significant progress in elementary and primary education. As a result, the demand for secondary education is bound to increase by 2010.” , The Ministry wants the nation to be prepared for handling this situation.

According to the Ministry, the Gross Enrolment Ratio, which shows the total enrolment in secondary and higher secondary sections (nine to twelve) as a percentage of the total population in the relevant age-group, was 39.91 per cent in 2004-05.

A target of 65 per cent had been set set for the 11th Plan period.State Resource Teams had been formed in all States and Union Territories.

The regional-level workshops are aimed at orienting these resource teams in school mapping, population and enrolment projection techniques and estimation and interpretation of key indicators. The team, comprising directors of secondary education, joint directors in-charge of planning and statistics, district educational officers and representatives from the boards secondary education boards, would collect data from all the districts and present a report by December 2007.

The NUEPA would collate this data and compile regional-level reports and later, a comprehensive national report during 2008-09. Based on them, the University would draft an action plan to improve access and quality of secondary education.

“The reports will give a clear idea of the current status, future requirements and the gaps in these,” Mr.Zaidi said, adding,

The Centre’s contribution to secondary education had largely been confined to governing the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodayas, besides funding bodies such as NCERT and NIOS. Now, the Ministry would be playing a larger role and has proposed centrally assisted programme called the ’Scheme for Universal Access and Quality at Secondary Stage (SUCCESS)’, during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period (2007-2012).