Sakal’s education in the initial years of his life bore him the fruits in the later years in terms of a
good job and salary. We saw that education was an important input for the growth of Sakal. It
opened new horizons for him, provided new aspirations, and developed values of life. national
income, cultural richness, and increases the efficiency of governance. There is a provision made
for providing universal access, retention, and quality not only for Sakal, but also contributes to
the growth of society. It enhances the elementary education with a special emphasis on girls.
There is also an establishment of pace setting of schools like Navodaya Vidyalaya in each
district. Vocational streams have been developed to equip large number of high school students
with occupations related to knowledge and skills. The plan outlay on education has increased
from Rs 151 crore in the first plan to Rs 99,300 crore in 2020–21. The expenditure on education
as a percentage of GDP rose from 0.64% in 1951–52 to 3.1% in 2019–20 (B.E.) and has
remained stagnant around 3% from past few years. The Budgetary Estimate as stated in the
Budget Documents of Union State Governments, Reserve Bank of India, the expenditure on
education as a percentage of GDP has declined to 2.8% in 2020–21 (B.E.) The literacy rates
have increased from 18% in 1951 to 85% in 2018. Literacy is not only a right, it is also needed if
the citizens are to perform their duties and enjoy their rights properly. However, a vast difference
is noticed across different sections of the population. Literacy among males is nearly 16.1%
higher than females and it is about 14.2% higher in urban areas as compared to rural areas. As
per 2011 census, literacy rates varied from 94% in Kerala to 62% in Bihar. The primary school
system (I–V) has expanded to over 7,78,842 lakh in 2019–20. Unfortunately, this huge
expansion of schools has been diluted by the poor quality of schooling and high dropout rates.
Samagra Shiksha is a significant step for the school education sector extending from pre-school
to Class XII, with the broader goal of improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal
opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes. The scheme envisages the ‘school’
as the continuum from pre-school, primary, middle to secondary levels and attempts to ensure
inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-school to secondary stage in accordance with
the Sustainable Development Goals. Mid-day meal scheme has been implemented to
encourage attendance and retention of children and improve their nutritional status. These
policies could add to the literate population of India. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher
education in the age group of 18 to 23 years is 27% in 2020–21, which would be broadly in line
with world average. The strategy focuses on increasing access, quality, adoption of
state-specific curriculum modification, vocationalisation and networking on the use of
information technology. There is also focus on distance education, convergence of formal,
non-formal, distance and IT education [Link] the past 60 years, there has been a
significant growth in the number of university and institutions of higher learning in specialised
areas. Let us read the table to see the increase in the number of college, universities, enrolment
of students and recruitment of teachers from 1951 to 2019–20.
