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PLANNING, APPRAISAL, AND FUND FLOWS UNDER SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN
2.1
PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES
The Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan assigns greatest importance to the preparatory activities as
these have been conceived as a necessary condition for quality
implementation of the programme. Systematic mobilization of the community
and creation of an effective system of decentralised decision making are part of the preparatory
activities. A number of steps have already been taken in many states and it
is expected that the State/UTs which have not yet decentralised powers to
Village Education Committees/ Panchayats/ Urban local bodies, would do so as
a part of the preparation for implementing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
Strengthening
of the office of the District Elementary Education Officer has also to be
undertaken in the preparatory phase in order to adequately equip it
to handle the larger tasks during programme implementation. Setting up of an
effective information system has therefore been highlighted, besides
procurement of essential office equipment and computer hardware. More
important than the hardware component would be the need to provide support
for involving community leaders at all levels and orienting existing
governmental functionaries in carrying out their activities more
effectively. An assessment of the additional manpower needs has also to be
made during this period. It must be emphasized that setting up of an
effective MIS would require contractual engagement of data analysts and data
entry personnel, as they are not available in most non-DPEP districts.
Similarly, the need for experts on gender, children with disabilities, other
disadvantages groups, civil works, pedagogy and community mobilization and
planning will also have to be assessed in the light of the specific State/
UT.
The preparation of habitation level educational plans through
effective community mobilisation for microplanning and school mapping is the
greatest challenge of the preparatory phase. Since Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has
the clear aim of universalisation of elementary education, it is mandatory
to track the progress of each and every child in the 0-14 age group.
Preparation of Village
Education Registers on the basis of household survey, regular
monitoring through Retention Registers and Pupil Progress Cards, would have to be
developed in the preparatory phase itself. This calls for a focus on
capacity building among the Panchayati Raj Institutions, members of Village
Education Committees, School Management Committees, Parents' Teacher
Associations, etc. The preparatory phase provides for a process and activity
based constitution/organisation of such Committees and training of community
leaders for better management of schools. Capacity building in the local
community will also require a constant interface with the school and the
teachers. This is being attempted through a large number of school based
activities in the preparatory phase itself.
Microplanning
exercise will include the following:
Through
a participatory process a
core planning team will be constituted in each village at the habitation
level including selected VEC members, selected community leaders, NGO
representatives, Head Master, selected teachers and some selected parents,
ensuring participation of women as well as persons from the deprived
communities. Parents of children with special needs may be included in the
team. The selection of this team is very critical for effective planning.
A
number of studies on the Base-line assessment in a district, in order to
reflect the current situation with regard to learning achievements,
retention, access, gender equity, social equity, physical infrastructure,
etc. would also have to be undertaken as preparatory activities. Effort
should be made to involve regional research institutions in this process.
The reports must be diagnostic and should be able to feed into the planning
process. Besides these locally relevant studies, baseline achievement tests
would be taken up for the primary level in all non-DPEP districts by NCERT.
Similarly, NCERT, in association with the States, will take up baseline
studies for upper primary level in all the districts. Several available
studies that are State specific may also be utilized to determine the
base-line status in a State.
For
planning to be need-based, it is important that the broad norms for
improving school facilities are shared with habitation
level planning team. The norms under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan provide
the broad framework for such an exercise. The habitation level planning team
would comprise of community leaders with a keen interest in the education of
children. It must have a large number of parents whose children study in the
school whose improvement is being attempted.
Identification
of a team at District and Block level would also have to be
undertaken during the preparatory phase. Efforts to identify teachers who
could serve as Cluster and Block Resource Centre Coordinators could also be
taken up during this period. These identified BRC/CRC Coordinators could
then facilitate the planning process. Local level non-governmental
organisation must also be associated in the planning activities and in the
process of constitution of VECs. The management needs in a particular
district would also have to be assessed by the State level Implementation
Society, to determine the kind of additional support required to
operationalize the team at District, Block and the Cluster level. In
districts that have already operationalized Block Resource and Cluster
Resource Centres, the formation of such teams would be easier. In other
regions, efforts to make an objective assessment of manpower needs and the
restructured command system for the education administration would have to
be a priority. The National and State level Mission will facilitate this
process of manpower planning for programme implementation through objective
assessment by expert teams.
Tasks
like rationalization
of teacher units has also to be initiated during the preparatory
phase in order that deployment of teachers is need based. This will
facilitate assessment of additional teacher requirements as also a
convergent planning process that appreciates the presence of private
schools.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan highlights transparency
in programme implementation.
All efforts have to be made to ensure that expenditure on elementary
education is a public domain subject. The School Display Board has to show
all investments being made in the school. Teacher Attendance should be
publicly displayed. For improving the quality of school-level data regarding
Enrolment, Attendance, Retention, Drop out, etc., besides the mandatory
maintenance of Village Education Registers, Retention Registers, and Pupil
Progress Cards, any information sent to Cluster/ Block/ District level, has
to be displayed on the School Display Board for public scrutiny. The seeds
of a community based monitoring system can only be sown by acceptance of a
Right to Information at the school level. Similar efforts at transparency
should be made right up to the national level. Copies of all sanction orders for pre-project/project activities
would be pasted on the web-site of the Department of Elementary Education
& Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Organization
of a large number of school based activities, cultural jathas, sports and
festivals, have been suggested as preparatory activities under the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan. Mobilization of the community can come about more
effectively through a series of school-based activities that opens up the
school as a social institution to the community. The objective of all these
efforts is to ensure
community partnership in the management of the school.
Opening
of Bank Accounts of Village Education Committee/ School Management
Committee/ Gram Panchayat Education Committee/ School level Committee in
urban areas will also be monitored as a preparatory activity so that
effective decentralization can be brought about. The financial norms
clearly state that a number of interventions have to be carried out by the
VEC (or its equivalent).
The
preparatory activities must also ensure that the formation of the VECs (or
equivalent bodies in urban areas) is process-based. Process-based implies selection
through activities and participation rather than by official orders of
nomination. Some States have accepted a system of election for
School Management Committees and the same will be continued. There may be a
need to reconstitute such Committees in many places where it had been done
routinely in the past. Involvement of the teachers, representatives of women
and other weaker sections, active community leaders, parents of children
studying in that school/EGS, parents of out of school children from poor
habitations, has to be ensured in a process based approach. The organization
of school based activities and microplanning are ways of identifying active
community leaders willing to give time for the educational reconstruction in
a habitation. The planning team has to have a role in the process-based
constitution of VECs. Involvement of NGOs will strengthen this
community-based approach for organizing the preparatory activities.
In
order to ensure an effective preparatory phase, up to Rupees fifty lakhs has
been provided for such activities, based on the actual requirement in a
particular district. Besides provision for training and orientation
of community leaders and Education Department functionaries, the preparatory
phase provides for the following:
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office equipment as per need,
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cultural activities for mobilization for SSA,
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computer hardware and software for effective MIS at the
district level,
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School-based activities up to Rupees 1000 to a school,
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household surveys and preparation of habitation Plans up to Rs.
3 per household,
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a set of base line Studies, etc.
The
preparatory phase is need-based and there is a lot of variation in the
demand from districts. Districts that are already implementing DPEP/LJP
would require limited resources for the preparatory activities. All districts are expected to
prepare District Elementary Education Plans before the end of the IX Plan. During
the preparatory phase, States will also make an assessment of manpower needs
at the state level. A State component
plan will also have to be prepared, highlighting these needs. Assessment of
manpower needs would require serious efforts at restructuring of education
administration, wherever it has not been attempted so far. State level
Resource Groups are expected to
facilitate programme implementation.
The
preparatory phase will be monitored by joint teams of resource persons sent
by State/ National level mission. Support for planning activities will be provided by District/ State/ National level resource institutions.
The districts can ask for resource support for carrying out planning
activities and NCERT/NIEPA/SCERT/SIEMAT/TSG-DPEP would provide the capacity
building support as per requirement. Besides this, the National and the
State Mission will have an effective monitoring and operational support
group to facilitate capacity building at all levels and to meet specific
need of districts. Copies of all sanction orders for Pre-project and Project
activities would be posted on the web site of the Department of Elementary
Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
State
governments will work out arrangements for professional and operational
support at the State level in order to ensure that the capacity development
needs of a district receive top most priority in the preparatory phase
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The preparatory
activities are expected to initiate a process of institutional
development and capacity building for professional management of
elementary education sector at the local level. The focus has to be
on capacity building through training, rigorous planning processes,
focus on community based data collection and its analyses, and most
of all, a
willingness to allow the local community to manage schools. It
is expected that the preparatory phase will take anywhere from
four to eight months.
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2.2
COMMUNITY-BASED PLANNING PROCESS
The success
of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will depend on the quality of the community based
planning process. While SSA is formulated on the premise that the community
can plan, it also accepts the tremendous requirement for developing
capacities in communities to do so. The heterogeneity of local communities
in many regions often poses problems of unanimity on proposed planning
criteria. It is important to recognize a habitation,
rather than a village as a unit of planning as most habitations have
a higher degree of community solidarity. Similarly, in urban areas, a
cluster of households in the same slum settlement has to be a unit of
planning.
The
starting point for planning activities has to be the creation of a core group of
governmental and non-governmental persons, entrusted with the task
of implementing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The State level Implementation
Society has to exercise utmost caution and care in ensuring that the core
team at the District and Block level is carefully selected and is committed
to the task of Universal Elementary Education. Besides Education Department
functionaries, these teams could comprise of faculty members of DIETs, BRCs,
CRCs, NGO representatives, representatives of Teacher Unions,
representatives of Women’s Groups, representatives of Self Help Groups,
retired and serving National and State Award winning Teachers, local
literary figures, Panchayati Raj/ Autonomous Council representatives, etc.
This list is illustrative as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan recognizes the diversity
across regions. The objective is to make district level and Block level core
teams competent to take the community along in its agenda for educational
reconstruction. The starting point of the planning process should be an
orientation of the District and Block level teams.
These
core teams should then undertake
an extensive visit of the district, covering every habitation/village/urban
slum. The funds provided under the preparatory activities for
cultural activities and school based activities could be taken up to build
advocacy for elementary education. These events could be occasions to
identify individuals and community leaders willing to undertake the
educational activities in the region. Constitution of Mahila
Samoohs and Prerak Dals could also be taken up as a preliminary step towards the
constitution of the VEC. These identified individuals, with large
representation of women and weaker sections, should then be oriented for
managing the affairs of the school. The National/ State level Mission could
extend operational support in building capacities for such activities.
The
District team must also work out its information needs and steps to develop
formats for household and school surveys should also be taken. This would
require capacity support from National/State level institutions. The
local context must reflect in all such activities.
The
school has to play a critical role in the planning process and efforts to
bring community leaders to the school should be encouraged. This will be
facilitated by regular activities in the school. The Head Master and his/her
team have to function like the local resource team for planning.
After
orientation of community teams, the process of microplanning should be undertaken.
This would involve intensive interaction with each household to ascertain
the educational status and the educational need. The requirements have to be
discussed at the habitation level before they are finalized. The broad
financial and physical norms regarding school infrastructure, teachers and
teaching learning materials will have to be the basis of the planning
exercise.
Requirement
of incentives like Scholarship and uniforms will have to be
worked out on the basis of State norms. These would be part of
the SSA framework but not the SSA programme as funding would
be from the State Plan. The planning for mid day meal should
also be discussed in the planning process, even though it will
continue as a distinct scheme.
The
habitation level plans should be drawn up on the basis of the microplanning
exercise. The Blocks and the Districts should also undertake an exercise to
see that all requirements can be fulfilled by redeployment or by schemes
under which unspent balances are available with the State governments. For
example, teacher deployment could come by rationalization or Teaching
Learning Equipment could come from sanctions already provided earlier under
Operation Blackboard but not utilised so far. As far as possible, a new
upper primary school would be opened by upgrading an existing primary
school. The final District Plan will take note of such investments and would
also reflect the process of redeployment of facilities, wherever required.
The habitation level educational plans will be appraised by the Cluster
level units, in consultation with the Block teams. The District unit will
appraise the Block level plans. Due care should be taken to ensure that the
demand for teachers, classrooms, etc. are as per the broad norm for Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan.
The
community-based planning process has to result in the
effective enrolment and retention of the hitherto out of
school children in school/ an EGS centre/ or a Bridge Course.
This calls for a child specific monitoring by the local
community. Community planning processes must also result in a
specific Action Plan.
2.3
PERSPECTIVE PLANS AND ANNUAL PLANS
Each
district will prepare a perspective Plan and an Annual Plan. The
perspective Plan will be a Plan for universalisation within the time frame
of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. It will be based on the existing position with
regard to attendance, retention, drop out and learning achievement. It will
work out the total requirement for universalisation, spread over a number of
years. A
clear Plan for improving access, increasing retention and ensuring
achievement will be a part of the perspective Plan. The Perspective
Plan will also be a dynamic document rather than any blue print and would be
subject to modifications based on the feedback on the programme
implementation. It will also work out the requirement of school
infrastructure and teaching learning materials based on these assessments.
The perspective plan will follow the broad financial norms set out in an
earlier section. The perspective Plans will also take note of the presence
of the non-governmental sector and its contribution towards UEE. The
perspective plan will not rule out modifications in the Annual Work Plans
based on field experience. The projections of the perspective Plan are
tentative and departures on possible interventions may be made as per need.
The
Annual Plans have to be based on a broad indication of resource availability
to a district in a particular year. The National and State Mission will try
and finalise the resource likely to be allocated to a particular district at
least six months before the first instalment is released to a district. The
district would undertake a prioritization exercise in the light of the
likely availability of resources. The Annual Plan will be a prioritized plan
in the light of the likely availability of resources. The National/ State
Mission will appraise these Annual Plans and changes in keeping with
resource availability could be effected by the National/ State Mission.
While
the objective of the Perspective
Plan is to assess and Plan for the unfinished UEE agenda in a
particular district, the Annual
plan is an exercise in prioritization. The perspective Plans of
districts would be the basis for placing demand for additional financial
resources for UEE in the years to come. As stated earlier, these Plans have
to be as per broad norms under SSA. The appraisal teams would ensure that
planning is as per nationally/ State accepted norms.
Preparation
of Perspective and Annual Plans require creation of capacities at all levels.
Besides the teams of resource persons from the National/ State mission,
efforts to develop State specific institutional linkage for planning support
will also be explored. Consultation with research institutions for
undertaking State specific educational agenda has already been initiated.
The same would be finalised in consultation with the State governments. The
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan would require support of institutions of proven
excellence for research, evaluation, monitoring and capacity building.
The
quality of the planning exercise will depend on the efforts at capacity
building and the supervision of the planning process. Institutions like
Cluster Resource Centres and Block Resource Centres, already established
under DPEP and being established under SSA in non-DPEP districts, have to be
carefully nurtured to provide capacity for effective planning. The starting point in any such
exercise is for the States to accept the need for careful selection of
personnel from the existing governmental functionaries and also to deploy
experts on contract from the management costs provided under the SSA.
The National/ State Mission will have a role in selection of personnel in
order to ensure objectivity in such processes. It must be reiterated that
quality planning process will require institutional reforms that allow local
communities to participate effectively in the affairs of the school. The
involvement of the teaching community in the planning process would also be
necessary to ensure that the school system emerges as the principal
institution for community partnership.
The
District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) have a Planning and
Management unit. These units have to become fully operational. The effort at
entering into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State governments under
the scheme of Strengthening Teacher Education is a step in that direction.
As stated in earlier sections, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan encourages
institutional capacity development at all levels. Ultimately, no amount of
external supervision by monitoring teams or capacity building teams is a
substitute for institutional capacity development at all levels. The CRCs,
BRCs and DIETs have a large role in the preparation of perspective and
Annual Plans and their systematic capacity development has to be a priority
in programme implementation.
2.4
ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES AS PER APPROVED PLANS
As
mentioned earlier, the allocation of resources will depend on the following:
preparation of District Elementary Education Plans and their appraisal;
commitment of the State government with regard to the State share;
performance of the State government regarding resources made available
earlier; institutional reforms in states to facilitate decentralised
management of education; reports of supervision teams regarding the quality
of programme implementation; and availability of financial resources in a
particular year. The actual allocation of resources will depend on all these
factors. It is likely that districts with poor infrastructure will require
more resources. However, the release will also be performance linked. If an
educationally backward district does not utilise the resources in the manner
intended, it is unlikely to continue to receive a priority. All the districts of the country will be covered before the end of the
Ninth Plan. Their Plans
will also be appraised and resources made available as per the conditions
mentioned above. There are no fixed criteria for allocation of resources, as
the actual allocation will depend on a large number of factors, including
the availability of resources.
As
mentioned earlier, the resources will be allocated in two installments in a year: Once in
April and then again in September. The objective is to allow states
to fully utilise the allocation for elementary education. The utilization
certificates, however, will only become due one year after the release of an
installment. Further release will be stalled if utilisation certificates are
not submitted as per the schedule.
The
expenditure of a State /UT has to be maintained at the level in 1999-2000.
The State share for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has to be over and above the
expenditure already being incurred at the 1999-2000 level in a particular
State. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will not substitute State funding for
elementary education. In fact, it is expected to encourage states to invest
more on elementary education along side a higher allocation by the Central
government. The State level Implementation Society for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
will certify that the level of investments are being maintained in the
state, at the time of seeking further allocation of resources from the
Central government. The National level Mission will
also monitor expenditure on elementary education. NIEPA will provide
professional support for regular monitoring of expenditure on elementary
education
2.5 WHAT A
DISTRICT PLAN MUST HAVE
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Large scale participation of women and other disadvantaged groups in
the planning process.
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A clear gender focus in all the activities under the plan. Every
intervention must be gender sensitive.
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Large scale evidence of school-based activities like Bal melas, Jathas, sports, Maa – beti
sammelans, etc.
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Evidence of
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interface with elected representatives at all levels
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process based constitution of committees at each level
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institutional arrangements for decentralized decision making
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consultation with teachers
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community contribution for universal elementary education
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school mapping and micro planning habitation wise/ village
wise/ cluster wise/ urban slum wise/ ward wise
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joint Bank accounts in each school/VEC/School Committees to
receive community contribution and to spend government grants
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focus on making education relevant to life.
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Survey of
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available school facilities, including non-governmental
educational institutions;
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0-6 age group children and facilities for their education and
development;
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6-14 age children through preparation of Education Registers
and identification of institution for schooling.
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Relocation of teacher units taking into account the presence of the
non-governmental sector and its impact on school attendance.
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Assessment of
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training needs and survey of capacities for orientation and
training with existing institutions;
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needs, school-wise/habitation-wise of additional school
facilities, teachers, etc.;
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school wise/EGS centre wise incentives of meals, scholarships,
uniforms, free textbooks and notebooks, etc.;
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teaching-learning materials;
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Information System;
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available financial resources and priority of needs.
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Community ownership of the district plan.
A plan for quality education including a plan for
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Incorporation of issues like local specific school timings, etc.;
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Reflection of all investments in Plan and Non Plan being made in a
particular district for elementary education.
2.6
APPRAISAL OF DISTRICT PLANS
Appraisal
of District Plans is critical to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The National/ State Mission will
undertake Appraisal of plans with the assistance of resource teams
constituted by the operational support unit of the National/ State Mission.
These resource persons will be fully oriented for undertaking the task of
appraisal. The Appraisal Missions will undertake regular visits to districts
in order to monitor the quality of preparatory activities. The cost of the
Appraisal teams will be fully borne by the National/ State Mission. The
monitoring and operational support teams at the National/ State level
Mission will constitute the Appraisal teams.
Appraisal
teams will be jointly constituted by the National and the State level
Mission. One of the National Mission nominees could be a
representative of the research institution that undertakes responsibility
for that state. The National Mission will circulate a list of resource
persons on the basis of past experience gathered under the DPEP and Lok
Jumbish Project. The nominees of the State Mission will also have to be
approved by the National Mission. A checklist of activities will be prepared
for the guidance of the Appraisal team.
For
non-governmental representatives in appraisal teams, besides the TA/DA as
admissible for government servants, a modest honorarium will be available.
A
few salient features of the Appraisal process will be as follows:
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To be conducted jointly
by central and state government representatives in the initial phase, along
with experts to be selected by NIEPA/NCERT/SCERT/SIEMAT
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States to undertake
appraisal after sufficient institutional capacities are developed through
networking with national level institutions
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Assessment to ensure
that mobilization has been the basis of planning and plan reflects
participatory planning process
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Level of community
ownership to be the critical factor in appraisal of plans
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Participation of NGOs,
institutions, individuals, Panchayati Raj Institutions and urban local
bodies
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Assessment of community
contribution in school activities
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Assessment of
institutional arrangements for decentralised decision making and capacity
building in local resource institutions
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Assessment of
involvement of teachers in the planning exercise
2.7
DETERMINING THE BASE LINE STATUS
Many State
specific evaluation studies have been carried out in recent months. The
National Evaluation of the Operation Blackboard scheme has generated State
specific findings on a large number of parameters regarding elementary
education. The Evaluation of the District Institutes of Education and
Training have similarly generated State specific Reports. In a manner these
studies give a broad base line picture with regard to the school system and
the effectiveness of the teacher training institutions. The National Sample
Survey 52nd Round (1995-96), the National Family Health Survey -
I and II (1992-93 and 98-99) also gives us insights on 6-14 age children
attending schools in various states. These studies serve as a State specific
baseline for the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Besides these,
provision for base line studies focussing on the local context has been
provided as part of the preparatory activities. Base line achievement tests
would be undertaken by the NCERT in the non-DPEP states on a priority, to
ascertain the current levels. The National and the State Mission will
monitor on the basis of these established base lines.
Besides
the State level Baselines, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan provides
for conducting Base line assessment Studies as a part of the
preparatory activities in each district to be covered under
SSA. These studies have to be diagnostic in nature so that
these studies contribute to the planning process by taking
note of the local context. NCERT will provide technical
guidance.
2.8
SUPERVISION OF ACTIVITIES
Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan requires regular supervision of activities. Ideally, the CRCs, BRCs. DIETs
have to be developed effectively to carry out supervision activities. Supervision teams will be periodically sent by the National/ State
Mission usually once in six months. Such
supervision visits would also include the State specific resource
institution that has undertaken the task of research and supervision in that
State/ UT. Theme specific supervision visits besides the overall assessment
visits would also be undertaken. Classroom observation by resource persons
has also been provided for. States will work out their supervision/
appraisal/monitoring and research Plans, based on the indication of resource
availability as per the norm approved for such activities under the SSA (Rs.
1500 per school per year). This amount would be divided among the National/
State and District mission under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Rs. 100 per school
will be spent at the National level. The State government will decide
regarding the balance amount to be spent on monitoring, research,
supervision and evaluation at the various levels, from the school to the
State level.
Two
supervision visits of at least three days each would be undertaken by the
National/ State level Mission each year, to each of the programme districts.
Initially these supervision teams will be constituted by the National
Mission in partnership with the States. Subsequently, States will constitute
their own supervision teams. Each Supervision team will have four Members,
two from the State Mission and two from the National Mission.
Representatives of National Resource institutions, State specific research
institutions and University Departments of education would be encouraged to
participate in the supervision team. The non-governmental representatives
who undertake supervision visits will be entitled to a modest honoraria,
over and above the TA/DA.
The
visits will be coordinated by the State and the National Mission of Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan. Suitable supervision formats will be designed through
special workshops to be organised by national /state level resource
institutions. Resource persons involved with training teachers will also
undertake classroom observation. A modest honoraria may be provided for
non-governmental/ retired resource persons involved in this work. Members of
DIET will be entitled to TA/DA for such visits.
2.9
PROCEDURE FOR RELEASE OF FUNDS
Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan is conceived as a long-term partnership between the Central
and the State/UT governments. The procedure for release of funds
incorporates this idea of a partnership. Under the programme of Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan, the districts will prepare their proposals through a
community owned Pre-Project phase, based on the Broad Framework for
Implementation. The State level Implementation Society for Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan will forward these proposals to the National Mission of Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan for release after appraisal by a joint team.
The Central government will release funds to the State government. The State
government would be expected to transfer this to the State Implementation
Society within thirty days. The State governments have to give
written commitments regarding its contribution towards the Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan.
After
preparation of the District Elementary Education Plans, the perspective as
well as the Annual Plans will be jointly appraised by a team of experts
constituted jointly by the National and the State level implementation
Society. The National Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Mission will approve the Annual
Plan on the basis of the appraisal report, the recommendation of the State
Implementation Society, the availability of Central Plan funds, and the
commitment of the State government regarding financial resources. The
recommendation of the State level Implementation Society must also be
accompanied by a commitment of the State government to transfer its share to
the State Society within thirty days of the receipt of the Central
contribution, as per the approved sharing arrangement. The release of the
first instalment to the State/UT will be processed after receipt of these
written commitments. The appraisal and approval of Plans should be completed
in time for the first instalment, to meet the proposed expenditure of the
first six months, to be released by 15 April. Some departure from this norm
would be necessitated in the first year of programme implementation.
There
would be two instalments each year: one in April for expenditure between
April and September and the second in September for expenditure between
October to March. A supervision visit to the programme
implementation districts will be undertaken by a pool of resource persons
selected by the National/State Mission, before the second instalment is
processed. The second instalment will be based on the progress in
expenditure and the quality of implementation. The utilization certificates
from the districts to the States and to the national Mission for funds
released in the first instalment would become due at the time of the release
of the first instalment in the subsequent year.
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