TENTATIVE ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION (1966-85)
SII.01 The object of this note is to give a tentative estimate of expenditure on school education-recurring and capital. The estimate is attempted for two years only--1975-76 and 1985-86.
PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION SII.02 The proposals for the development of pre-primary education have been detailed in Chapter VII (Vol. II).
SII.03 The estimated enrolments at this level would be the following:
(a) In 1965-66, the enrolment in pre-primary education proper was 250,000. We expect this to rise to 0.5 million in 1975-76 and to 2.4 million in 1985-86.
(b) The enrolment in the second category (i.e. class I of those States where the school course is of 11 years up to the matriculation and in Infant A and B of Assam and Nagaland) was 11.5 million in 1965-66. But this contains, not only children in the age 5-6, but also some children below five and a large proportion of those who are above six. The attempt to be made in future is to introduce the system of pre-registration, i.e. this class will admit children only of 5. At the same time, all older children will be promoted to regular class I of the primary school. As this process goes on, more and more children in the age-group 5-6 will come in (the target to be reached by 1985-86 being 50 per cent of the age-group 5-6) and older children will go up to class I. As the two processes will be simultaneous, we have assumed that the enrolment at this level will be constant at 10 million each in 1975-76 and 1985-86. The break-up of this enrolment will be as follows:
TABLE SILL BREAK-UP OF ESTIMATED FUTURE ENROLMENT AT
PRE-PRIMARY STAGE
(in 000's)
1965-66 1975-76 1985-86
Pre-primary proper: Age-group 3-5 250 513 2,352
Pre-primary (other types): Age-group 5-6 11,523 9,487 7,648
(contains a large (contains (About 50 per
part of overage cent of the age-
overage children) children) group 5-6)
TOTAL 11,773 10,000 10,000
910
SII.08 COST OF SCHOOL EDUCATION 911
SII.04 The cost of pre-primary education proper estimated as follows:
TABLE SII.2. ESTIMATED COST OF PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION
1975-76 1985-86
(1) Average annual salary of a teacher (Rs.) 1,800 2,500
(2) Add 10 per cent for retirement benefits (Rs.) 180 250
TOTAL (Teacher Costs) (Rs.) 1,980 2,750
(3) Non-teacher costs at one-half of the
above (Rs.) 990 1,375
TOTAL COST (RS.) 2,970 4,125
(4) Pupil-teacher ratio 40 40
(5) Cost per pupil (Rs.) 74.3 103.1
SII.05 For other types of pre-primary education, cost has been
assumed at Rs. 20 per pupil for 1975-76 and Rs. 30 per pupil for 1985-
86.
SII.06 The total recurring cost of the programme would thus be:
TABLE SII.3. TOTAL RECURRING COST OF PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION
1975-76 1985-86
(Rs. in 000's) (Rs. in 000's)
(1) State level centres
@ Rs.100,000 per centre 1,600 1,600
(2) District level centres
@ Rs. 50,000 per centre (150 in
1975-76 and 300 in 1985-86) 7,500 15,000
(3) Pre-primary education of the standard type 38116 242,491
(4) Pre-primary education-other types 189,740 229,440
TOTAL 236,956 488,531
LOWER PRIMARY EDUCATION SII.07 At this level, we have recommended a pay scale of Rs. 150-250 with a selection grade rising to Rs. 300. The average of this scale by 1975-76 will be Rs. 1,800 (as against Rs. 1,046 in 1965-66) and Rs. 2,500 for 1985-86.
SII.08 The non-teacher expenditure per student (which is only Rs. 3 at present) will have to be increased to Rs. 12 by 1985-86 as follows:
912 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SII.09
TABLE SII.4. NON-TEACHER EXPENDITURE AT LOWER PRIMARY STAGE
Rs.
(1) Free supply of books and writing materials 5
(2) Equipment (at Rs. 30 per student with an average estimated life of
10 years) 3
(3) Contingent expenditure 4
TOTAL 12
We have assumed that it would be possible to raise the cost to about Rs. 8 per child by 1975-76 and to about Rs. 12 per child by 1985-86.
SII.09 We have suggested a pupil-teacher ratio of 40 with an upper limit of 50 for each class. During the next ten years, however, larger classes would be inevitable. We, therefore, suggest the adoption of the three-hour session System in classes I and II. As more resources become available, it may be gradually discontinued. This will enable us to have a pupil-teacher ratio of 50 by 1975-76 which will be reduced to 45 by 1985-86.
SII.10 We have also recommended that 10 per cent of the schools should be upgraded to the optimum standard (Le., to about double the cost per pupil).
SII.11 The objective at this stage is to provide universal full- time education to all children. The enrolment on this basis has been detailed in Chapter VII (Vol. II).
SII.12 On these assumptions the cost per student at the lower primary stage would be as follows:
TABLE SII.5. COST PER STUDENT AT LOWER PRIMARY STAGE
1975-76 1985-86
(1) Average annual salary of a teacher (Rs.) 1,800 2,500
(2) Add 10 per cent for retirement benefits (Rs.) 180 250
TOTAL (Teacher Costs) (Rs.) 1,980 2,750
(3) Non-teacher costs (Rs. 8 per pupil
in 1975-76 and Rs. 12 per pupil
in 1985-86) 400 540
TOTAL COST (RS.) 2,380 3,290
(4) Pupil-teacher ratio 50 45
(5) Cost per pupil (Rs.) 47.6 73.1
(6) As 10 per cent of the schools are to be raised to a higher
standard of quality (say, double the cost per pupil) the cost would be
(Rs.) 52.4 80.4
SII.18 COST OF SCHOOL EDUCATION 913
SII.13 The cost of the programme will then be as shown in the following table:
TABLE SII.6. TOTAL COST OF EDUCATION AT LOWER PRIMARY STAGE
1975-76 1985-86
(1) Total enrolment (in 000's) 71,550 76,239
(2) Cost per pupil (Rs.) 52.4 80.4
(3) Total cost (Rs. in 000's) 3,749,220 6,129,616
HIGHER PRIMARY EDUCATION SII.14 At this stage, we expect facilities for about 90 per cent of the age-group by 1985-86. Of these, part-time education will be provided for 20 per cent of the children, both in 1975-76 and in 1985- 86. In the first decade, the part-time classes will be of two types: (1) for those who have already completed the lower primary stage. and want to continue their studies further; and (2) literacy classes for those who have not been to school or have not been able to complete the lower primary stage. In the second decade, only the first category of part-time facilities will remain. But the numbers enrolled therein would increase. The details of these programmes have been discussed in Chapter VII (Vol. II).
SII.15 We also make the following assumptions:
(1) The average annual salary of a teacher would be Rs. 2,100 in 1975-76 (one trained graduate teacher with an average annual salary of Rs. 3,000 for three primary school teachers with an average annual salary of Rs. 1,800), and Rs. 2,875 in 1985-86 (one graduate trained teacher with an average annual salary of Rs. 4,000 for three primary school teachers with an average annual salary of Rs. 2,500).
(2) The non-teacher costs would be 20 per cent of the teacher costs.
(3) The average pupil-teacher ratio would be 35 in both the years.
SII.16 The cost per pupil will be as given in Table SII.7.
SII.17 As 10 per cent of the schools have to be upgraded to optimum standards (i.e., to about double the cost per pupil), the cost per student would be Rs. 87.1 in 1975- 76 and 119.4 in 1985-86.
SII.18 For part-time education, we have assumed that the cost per pupil per year will be Rs. 30 in 1975-76 and Rs. 50 in 1985-86.
914 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SII.19
TABLE SILT COST PER PUPIL AT HIGHER PRIMARY STAGE
1975-76 1985-86
(1) Average annual salary of a
teacher (Rs.) 2,100 2,875
(2) Add 10 per cent for retirement
benefits(Rs.) 210 288
TOTAL (Teacher Costs) (Rs.) 2,310 3,163
(3) Non-teacher costs at 20 per cent
of the above (Rs.) 462 633
TOTAL COSTS (Rs.) 2,772 3,796
(4) Pupil-Teacher ratio 35 35
(5) Cost per pupil (Rs.). 79.2 108.5
SII.19 The total costs will be as follows:
TABLE SII.8. TOTAL COST OF EDUCATION AT HIGHER PRIMARY STAGE
1975-76 1985-86
(1) Enrolment (in 000's)
Full-time 25,915 38,971
Part-time 6,479 9,743
TOTAL 32,394 48,714
(2) Costs (Rs. in 000's)
Full-time 2,257,197 4,653,137
Part-time 194,370 487,150
TOTAL COSTS 2,451,567 5,140,287
SII.20 The total estimated recurring expenditure on the first level of education in 1975-76 and 1985-86 would, therefore, be as in Table SII.9.
SII.21 It will be seen that the cost proposed above are extremely austere. The pupil-teacher ratios we have proposed will be objected to by many. There is no provision made here for midday meals, for maintaining school health services, for free supply of school uniforms, and yet, the total cost required for this programme goes much beyond our proposed target in 1975-76, although it remains within manageable limits thereof by 1985-86. This is one of the reasons why we have proposed that programme of addition of one year to the school stage should be mainly postponed to the second decade.
SII.23 COST OF SCHOOL EDUCATION 915
TABLE SII.9. TOTAL ESTIMATED RECURRING EXPENDITURE ON THE FIRST
LEVEL OF EDUCATION
1975-76 1985-86
(Rs.in 000's) (Rs. in 000's)
(1) Pre-primary 236,956 488,531
(2) Lower primary 3,749,220 6,129,616
(3) Higher primary 2,451,567 5,140,287
TOTAL 6,437,743 11,758,434
(4) Percentage of total anticipated
expenditure of Rs. 15,562 million in
1975-76 and of Rs. 40,364 million
in 1985-86 41.4 29.1
LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATION SII.22 For the purpose of estimating costs we make the following assumptions:
(1) Ninety per cent of the teachers would be trained graduates whose average annual salary will be Rs. 3,000 in 1975-76 and Rs. 4,000 in 1985-86. The remaining 10 per cent of the teachers would have postgraduate qualifications-their average annual salary would be Rs. 4,500 in 1975-76 and Rs. 5,500 in 1985-86.
(2) The pupil-teacher ratio will be 25.
(3) Non-teacher costs will be at the rate of one-third of the teacher costs.
SII.23 On these assumptions the cost per pupil will be as follows:
TABLE SII.10. COST PEP, PUPIL AT THE LOWER SECONDARY STAGE
1975-76 1985-86
(1) Average annual salary of a teacher (Rs.) 3,150 4,150
(2) Add 10% for retirement benefits (Rs.) 315 415
TOTAL (Teacher Costs) (Rs.) 3,465 4,565
(3) Non-teacher costs @ one-third on the
above (Rs.) 1,155 1,522
TOTAL COST (Rs.) 4,620 6,087
(4) Pupil-teacher ratio 25 25
(5) Cost per pupil (Rs.) 184.8 243.5
916 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SII.24
SII.24 As 10 per cent of the schools at this level are to be maintained at optimum standard (i.e., at about double the cost per student), the average cost per student at this stage will be Rs. 203.3 in 1975-76 and Rs. 267.9 in 1985-86.
SII.25 We have suggested in Chapter VII (Vol. II) that 20 per cent of the enrolment will be in art-time education. In general education, the cost per student in such education has been assumed at Rs. 60 for 1975-76 and Rs. for 1985-86.
SII.26 We have further assumed that the enrolment in vocational education will be 6.4 per cent by 1975-76 and 20 per cent by 1985-86 and the cost will be Rs. 500 in 1975-76 and Rs. 600 in 1985-86.
SII.27 About 20 per cent of the enrolment in vocational education would also be on a part-time basis. The cost per student in such education has been assumed at Rs. 200 by 1975-76 and Rs. 250 by 1985- 86.
SII.28 On these assumptions, the total cost of education at this stage will be as given Table SII.11.
HIGHER SECONDARY EDUCATION SII.29 We have recommended in Chapter III (Vol. I), that the duration of this stage should be one year till about 1975-76 and that in the following decade, it should be raised to two years. We have also recommended in Chapter VII (Vol. II), that 50 per cent of the enrolment at this stage should be in vocational courses and that 25 per cent of the total enrolment should be on a part-time basis.
SII.30 On the basis of the salary scales recommended by us, the average annual salary of a teacher at this stage would be Rs. 4,500 in 1975-76 and Rs. 5,500 in 1985-86.
SII.31 The non-teacher costs will be one-third of the teacher costs.
SII.32 The pupil-teacher ratio will be 20 : 1.
SII.33 On these assumptions, the cost per student in higher secondary education (general) would be as given in Table SII.12.
SII.34 As 10 per cent of these institutions are to be upgraded to optimum standards (i.e., about double the cost per pupil), the cost per student would be Rs. 363.0 in 1975-76 and Rs. 443.7 in 1985-86.
SII.35 We have also assumed that the cost in the vocational courses will be Rs. 700 in 1975-76 and Rs. 800 in 1985-86.
SII.36 The costs in part-time education (general) would be Rs. 120 in 1975-76 and Rs. 160 in 1985-86. In vocational courses, these costs have been assumed at Rs. 300 in 1975-76 and Rs. 350 in 1985-86.
SII.37 On these assumptions, the cost of education at this stage will be as given in Table SII.13.
COST OF SCHOOL EDUCATION 917