RESOURCES
 

Education is funded largely by the central and state governments. Elementary education is funded almost wholly by the Government. After the inception of planning in 1950-51 spending on education as a proportion of GNP has steadily increased from about 1.2 percent to about 3.5 percent. While the increase is significant, because of fi- nancial constraints and competing priorities resource availability was not adequate. Nor was it possible to fulfill the aspiration articulated time and again from 1966 onwards, that the public ex- penditure on education should be atleast 6 per cent of the GNP.

While public expenditure is below the articulated aspiration, at a macro-level, India's expenditure on education as a proportion of GNP compares favourably with that of the peer group of Asian developing countries. Public expenditure on elementary education has increased significantly during the post-independence period. Expenditure on el- ementary education increased from 0.46 per cent of GNP in 1950-51 to 1.72 per cent in 1989-90. During the 1980s alone, the public ex- penditure on elementary education increased 4.5 times from Rs.15,373 million to Rs.68,883 million in 1989-90. The share of elementary education in total public expenditure on education is about 45 to 46 per cent. A significant and welcome feature is the pronounced trend of a higher share of plan expenditure in the total expenditure on elementary education.

In the past, elementary Education in India was largely funded by the state government. NPE, 1986 gave an operational definition to the concurrency of education enshrined in the Constitution. With the launching of centrally sponsored schemes to promote non-formal education and the quality of elementary education, the central government's share in plan expenditure on elementary education has increased substantially. Education in India has been largely a budget-based system where efficiency is rated by ability to "consume" budget and to demand more. Performance at delivery point has not been an important criterion. The on-going economic reforms and structural adjustments would, therefore, demand a shift from inputs to performance and outcomes considerations of cost effectiveness should inform all levels of educational administration and planning.

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