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Elementary Education

Under a separate directorate, the Elementary Education programme of the State covers all standards from 1-8. There are over 1.38 crores children studying in these standards. The state is making a concentrated following effort to reduce the level of drop out and to ensure that all children enter into classes.

Universalisation of Elementary Education in the main thrust area of Education sector in the State. As per the national goals, we have to achieve this target by 2010. Many steps have been taken in this regard in the SSA campaign in the State.

We are committed to the goals of providing access to children. We have achieved the goal of providing one school, in every sq. kilometer of inhabited area. Further, to improve the teacher-pupil ratio, a massive teacher recruitment drive was also carried out recently and over 30,000 teachers have already been appointed. Free text books are being supplied to all children from Classes I to XII. The provision of mid-day meals certainly improves the prospects of hundred percent enrollment and much improved retention.

The recent Chief Minister's Education campaign in July-August 2005, gave priority to the enrollment process, whereby we could achieve enrollment of about 14.50 lac children who were brought to schools. This includes new children as also drop our children and never enrolled children. The campaign also focused on the health of the children with each child in Classes I to V being given a free health check up by qualified medical personnel. The task of digitizing the information is now to be taken up. A massive tree plantation drive was also taken up wherein about 20 lakh saplings were planted.

Girl child education is of paramount importance to the state. There are special residential bridge courses being conducted in the State for out of school and drop out girls of a duration ranging from three months to six months, after which they are mainstreamed. 56 Kasturba Gandhi Balika schools have been sanctioned in the State, out of which 41 have already commenced. Those of the girls who continue with education into secondary and higher secondary in the tribal areas are being provided with cycles as an additional facilities. Fees have been exempted for all girls upto Class XII.

Improvement in the quality of teaching is of concern. Recently the State Cabinet has approved the amendment of the rules to permit special selection of staff for the District Institutes of Education and Training. This will improve the personnel manning the institutions and in turn improve the quality of teacher training.

The Total Sanitation Campaign has been dovetailed with the requirement of toilet and sanitation facilities in schools. Approximately 41,000 schools will be provided these facilities by clubbing finances available with the SSA, the PHED, the Rural Development Department, the UNICEF and the Balika Shiksha Foundation.

Information and Technology interventions:

• Project Grace: 100 Sr. Secondary Schools to be taken up under the ICT @ schools programme, with each school having a computer lab of 10 PCs. The project is to be financed by Government of India and State Government 75:25.

• Computer Education Centres at District Headquarters. Each of the 32 centers have 40 computers. These are being made operational now.

• EDUSAT: finances made available with ISRO for installation of interactive and receive only sets at 32 locations in the State.

• Computerization of the Department with a project funding of about Rs. 12 Crores: all offices of the Education Department, including Elementary, Secondary as well as SSA offices are proposed to be computerized.

• Computer Education for Class IX and X made compulsory with Government bearing half the cost of the fees, for the students.

• Agreement with Microsoft for staring of an Information Technology Training Academy for training of teachers.

• Use of radio transmission for English classes: The programme has been introduced through the All India Radio with effect from first week of September.

• One CALP in-charge one MIS in-charge/Computer Operators and two teachers been trained by Azin Premji Foundation under an MOU entered into between State Government and the Foundation.

Literacy Programme

Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) aims at imparting functional literacy with emphasis on national integration, family welfare, health care and eradication of social evils like child marriage, dowry etc. The Directorate of Literacy and Continuing Education has adopted the total literacy campaign as the dominant strategy since 1990. To give it a shape of public campaign, efforts are on to involve all classes of the society and social agencies like youth clubs, voluntary organizations, teachers, educational institutions and Panchyati Raj Institutions.

Under the total literacy programme 90.70 lacs illiterates have been identified. Out of these, 80.57 lacs have been enrolled by the end of Dec.2004. Amongst the enrolled persons 53.78 lacs are female. Out of the total beneficiaries 15.86 lacs Schedule Caste and 15.84 lacs Schedule Tribe persons have been enrolled. Up to end of the year 2004, under Continuing Education programme 40.57 lacs persons have been benefited. Of these 4.73 lacs person belong to Schedule Caste and 5.13 lacs to Schedule Tribe.
 

Secondary Education

At present 7088 secondary and 3839 senior secondary schools are functioning in the State. A total of 18.93 lacs students in the age group of 14-17 years are studying in these schools. For the year 2005-06, a provision for up-gradation of 500 upper primary schools to secondary and 250 secondary schools to senior secondary schools have been kept in public sector.Besides, 762 upper primary and 264 secondary schools in the private sector have been upgraded to secondary and senior secondary schools respectively.

Source: School and Sanskrit Education Department, Government of Rajasthan