Annual - Education

Annual Report 2006-07PPLPhonographic Performance LimitedSPASchool of Planning and ArchitecturePQLPhysical Quality of LifeSPOAState Programme of ActionPTAParent Teacher AssociationSRCState Resource CentreQIPQuality Improvement ProgrammeSSASarva Shiksha AbhiyanR&DResearch and DevelopmentSTEISecondary Teacher Edcuation InstituteRCCPRadio-Cum-Cassette PlayersSUPWSocially Useful Productive WorkRECRegional Engineering CollegeTATravel AllowanceRFRadio FrequencyTCTeachers CentreRFLPRural Functional Literacy ProjectTEPSETeachers Preparation in Special EducationRIERegional Institute of EducationTEQIPRPFRevised Policy FormulationsTechnical Education Quality ImprovementProgrammeRRCRegional Resource CentreTICTotal Literacy CampaignRSKBRajasthan Shiksha Karmi BoardTIETeaching Learning EquipmentSAARCSouth Asian Association for RegionalCooperationTMATutor Marked AssignmentTTTITechnical Teacher Training InstitutesSAIIERSri Aurobindo International Institute ofEducational ResearchUCCUniversal Copyright CommissionUEEUniversalisation of Elementary EducationSAPSpecial Assistance ProgrammeUGCUniversalisation of Elementary EducationSCERTState Council of Educational Researchand TrainingUNDPUnited Nation Development ProgrammeSCHEState Council of Higher EducationSCRIPTSociety for Copyright Regulation of IndianProduces of Films and TelevisionUNFPASCVEState Council of Vocational EducationUNICEF United Nations Children’s FundSDAEState Directorate of Adult EducationUPEUniversalisation of Primary EducationSHSpeech HandicapUSEFIUnited States Educational Foundation inSICIShastri Indo-Canadian InstituteUTUnion TerritorySIDSociety of Innovation and DepartmentVHVisual HandicapSIDASwedish International DevelopmentAgencyVHOVoluntary Hindi OrganisationVLSIVery Large Scale IntegrationSIETState Institute of Educational TechnologyVOLVideo Distance LearningSKPShiksha Karmi ProjectVRCVocational Rehabilitation CentreSLETState Level Eligibility TestSLIETSant Longowal Institute of EngineeringWIPOWorld Intellectual Property OrganisationWTOWorld Trade OrganisationYECVillage Education CommitteeVEPVocational Education Programmeand TechnologyUNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural OrganisationUnited Nations Population FundSLMSelf Learning MaterialSLMAState Literacy Mission AuthoritySOPTSpecial Orienatation ProgrammeZIETZonal Institute of Education and Trainingfor Primary TeacherZSSZilla Saksharta Samiti10

Overview1Overview1

Annual Report 2006-07OVERVIEW(MDM Scheme), the number of out ofschool children has come down to lessthan 5% of the total population in theage group of 6 to 14 years i.e. from 4.4crores in 2001-02 to 70 lakhs in 2006.At a time when nearly 40% of India’s populationis in the age group of 6-24 years and wheneducation has been identified as the singular,most important element in the national developmentaleffort, the activities of the Ministry of HumanResource Development are of crucial importance.Policies, programmes and schemes of the Ministry,consequently, have been wrought keeping this in view.This Annual Report endeavours to present thehighlights of what has been attempted in 2006- 2007,to take stock of the present stage of major programmesand schemes and to give some indication of ourproposals for the future.The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986, asupdated in 1992, envisages improvement andexpansion of education in all sectors, elimination ofdisparities in access and laying greater access onimprovement in the quality and relevance of educationat all levels, including technical and professionaleducation. It also emphasizes that education must playa positive and interventionist role in correcting socialand regional imbalances, empowering women and insecuring a rightful place for the disadvantaged, linguisticgroups and minorities.With the vigorous implementation of the SarvaShiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the cooked Mid Day Meal2The Mid Day Meal Scheme wasrevised in mid 2006. Under the revisedscheme nutritional norms have beenraised from the existing 300 calories and8-12 grams of protein to minimum 450calories and 12 grams of protein perchild. To facilitate this, Centralassistance towards cooking cost, hasbeen raised from existing Rs. 1 toRs.1.50 per child per school day withmandatory contribution of Re.0.50 perchild by States, making the overall costnorm of Rs.2 per child per day. In thecase of North-Eastern States, the sharing pattern is90:10 between the Centre and States.Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, underwhich 1000 new schools have been approved in theyear 2006, besides the 1180 approved earlier, providesresidential education to girls predominantly belongingto the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities.Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), and Jawahar NavodayaVidyalayas (JNVs) have been recognized as setting thestandards for the secondary education in the country.50 new KVs and 28 new JNVs have been approved in2006-07, in addition to the 919 existing KVs and 539JNVs.Following the decision of the Central Advisory Boardof Education (CABE) in July 2005, two StandingCommittees have been set up, on “Literacy and AdultEducation” under the Chairmanship of Prof. BasudebBarman, MP and on “Inclusive Education for Childrenand Youth with Special Needs” under theChairmanship of Shri Vasant Purake, Minister ofSchool Education, Government of Maharashtra.In the field of adult education and literacy, out of 600districts in the country 597 have since been coveredunder various programmes – 101 under total literacycampaigns, 171 under post literacy programme and

Overview325 under continuing education programme. About120.39 million persons have been covered underliteracy programmes as on 31.3.2006. About 60% ofthe beneficiaries are women while 22% and 12%belong to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribesrespectively.Access to education is of utmost importance foreducational advancement of disadvantaged sections.The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation inAdmission) Act has, therefore, been enacted and hasbeen notified in January, 2007 in pursuance of the 93rdAmendment to the Constitution of India, to providestatutory reservations to SCs, STs and OBCs in CentralEducational Institutions. Necessary resources havebeen provided to the Central Educational Institutions,to augment their intake capacity by 54% in a maximumstaggered period of three years in accordance with theAct, ensuring that reservations would not lead to anyreduction in the seats as were available to unreservedcategories before the coming into force of thisEnactment.The University Grants Commission had been given aPlan Budget of Rs.1269 crore in 2006-07, which wasa substantial increase of over 68% over 2005-06allocations, enabling increased assistance toUniversities in general and the Central Universitiesin the North East in particular.Four new Central Universities have been createdduring 2006 through Acts of Parliament. ArunachalPradesh (Rajiv Gandhi National University) andTripura University have been converted from StateUniversities into Central Universities, while a newUniversity of Sikkim has been created. The CentralInstitute of English and Foreign Languages is beingconverted into a Central University. Now all States inthe North East have a Central University each. A totalof six Central Universities have been created(including the Allahabad University and ManipurUniversity which were created by converting theexisting State Universities) since 2004.The seven IITs and six IIMs have served the countryextremely well and have done us proud. It is nowproposed to establish 3 new IITs in the states of AndhraPradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. It has also been decidedto establish a 7th IIM at Shillong in the North East.Two new Schools of Planning and Architecture arealso proposed to be started at Vijayawada and Bhopal.In addition to the existing Indian Institute ofInformation Technology at Gwalior, Allahabad andJabalpur under the Government of India, a new IIIT(Design and Manufacturing) has been approved to beestablished at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. Proposalshave been submitted to the Planning Commission forstarting 20 new IIITs so as to cover each major State.Planning Commission has suggested that these couldbe considered under the Public-Private Participationmode.Erstwhile Regional Eng ineer ing Colleges/Gover nment Engineer ing Colleges have beenconverted into National Institutes of Technology(NITs) with changes in their governance structure.There are 20 NITs at present. In order to bring all ofthem under umbrella legislation, the NIT Bill hadbeen introduced in Parliament.In order to build scientific research institutions of thehighest standards in which teaching and research atthe under-graduate and post-graduate levels will beundertaken in an integrated manner, two IndianInstitutes of Scientific Education and Research(IISERs) have been set up at Kolkata and Pune. Athird IISER is being set up at Mohali (Punjab) andtwo more have been proposed at Bhopal andThiruvanathapuram. It is hoped that over a period oftime, IISERs will attain the eminence of IISc,Bangalore and put India in the forefront of scientificresearch in the world.There is an urgent need to revamp Polytechniceducation in the country. The annual intake inpolytechnics is approximately 50% of the intake in thedegree level engineering institutions, though this ratioshould be many more times the other way around.An in-principle approval has been obtained from thePlanning Commission to start 54 new polytechnics inthe districts without any polytechnics at present. Alsothere is a proposal to strengthen the existingpolytechnics in the Special Identified Districts (SID).“Sakshat,” a free one-stop portal for education hasbeen launched by His Excellency, the President ofIndia in October 2006, to address education andlearning needs of students, scholars, teachers and3

Annual Report 2006-07lifelong learners. There has been a very good responseto the “Talk to your Teacher” facility even upto 11 PMin the night which has been started since 26th January2007, to clarify the doubts of the students who arepreparing for their Board Examinations.Access to education through the Open and DistanceLearning system is expanding rapidly. The IndiraGandhi National Open University (IGNOU) nowhas a cumulative enrollment of about 15 lakh. TheUniversity introduced 16 new programmes during2006-07. The Distance Education Council (DEC), anauthority of IGNOU, is coordinating the activities of13 State Open Universities and 119 Institutes ofCor respondence Courses in conventionaluniversities. It is proposed to give independent statusto this Council.National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) has registered 14 lakh learnerssince inception.4India has been accorded the Guest of HonourPresentation (GHP) status at the prestigious FrankfurtBook Fair (FBF), Germany, held in October 2006. TheFair, largest of its kind in the world and held annuallyin Frankfurt partners with one country or region for aspecial presentation. India has become the onlycountry to be chosen for this honour twice, the earlieroccasion being in 1986. The FBF gave a lot of visibilityto India with the Indian pavilion showcasing nearly200 publishers and 75 authors from the country, asalso giving an opportunity to the world at large todiscover and debate different aspects of the a vibrant,dynamic and contemporary India.The subsequent chapters will give a more exhaustiveand elaborate account of the activities of the Ministryand its two constituent departments, the Departmentof School Education and Literacy and the Departmentof Higher Education during the year 2006-07.

Administration2Administration5

Annual Report 2006-07Organisational Set upThe Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment is under the overall chargeof the Human Resource DevelopmentMinister who is assisted by two Ministers of State, oneeach for the two Departments, namely, the Departmentof School Education and Literacy and the Departmentof Higher Education. Each Department is headed bya Secretary to the Government of India. The Secretary,Department of Higher Education is assisted by anAdditional Secretary, five Joint Secretar ies, oneEconomic Adviser and one Deputy Director General(Statistics). The Secretary, Department of SchoolEducation & Literacy is assisted by four JointSecretar ies and one Economic Adviser. TheDepartments are organized into Bureaux, Divisions,Branches, Desks, Sections and Units. Each Bureau isunder the charge of a Joint Secretary assisted byDivisional Heads at the level of Director /DeputySecretary/Deputy Educational Advisors.Establishment matters of the Secretariat proper of boththe Departments of Education are handled inAdministrative Division of the Department of HigherEducation. This includes establishment matters ofofficers appointed under Central Staffing Scheme forboth the Departments and ex-cadre posts i.e. AdvisoryCadre, Statistical Cadre etc.In addition to the establishment matters of properSecretariat, the Administration Division also looksafter the following matters:-Education Wings in Indian Missions AbroadEducation Wings were established in the IndianMissions / Embassies in New York, Washington,Moscow and Berlin. In addition, the office of thePermanent Delegation of India to UNESCO has alsobeen functioning at Paris.The Education Wings were established with a view todeveloping good relations in the field of Science,Education and Culture with friendly countries andfor looking after the welfare of Indian studentcommunity and Indian diaspora. At present only theEducation Wing of Consulate General of India, NewYork and Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO,Paris are functional.Training CellThe Training Cell assesses the training needs of theofficers and staff members of both the Departments. It6also liaises with Organisations like Department ofPersonnel & Training (DOPT), Ministry of Finance(Department of Economic Affairs), Indian Institute ofPublic Administration (IIPA), National Informatics Centre(NIC), Institute of Secretarial Training & Management(ISTM), New Delhi and National Institute of FinancialManagement (NIFM), Faridabad for imparting trainingto the staff and officers of the Department, so that theycould be equipped to attend to various Courses/Programmes such as management and administration,vigilance, cash and accounts, personnel and housekeeping matters, conducted by these Agencies.Training Cell also sends nominations of eligible andsuitable officers in response to circulars issued by theDOP&T and Department of Economic Affairs of theMinistry of Finance for short term and long termtraining courses abroad under the Colombo Plan andBilateral Technical Assistance Programmes respectively.HRM’s Discretionary GrantThe Scheme of HRM’s Discretionary Fund is intendedto provide financial assistance to Institutions,Organisations and individuals doing useful work inthe field of Education, Culture, Sports, Media and alsoto the meritorious students. This Fund is also intendedto give relief to the families of the needy and poorjournalists, workers employed in film industry andartists when such families are in need of financialassistance due to demise of their only bread earner.Disbursements out of this fund are made in accordancewith the prescribed rules.Vigilance ActivitiesThe vigilance set up for the Department is under theoverall supervision of the Secretary, who in turn, isassisted by the part-time Chief Vigilance Officer ofthe rank of Joint Secretary, an Under Secretary andother subordinate staff. Shri Sunil Kumar, JointSecretary, has been functioning as Chief VigilanceOfficer for both the Departments of Higher Educationand School Education and Literacy.During the period under report, sustained efforts werecontinued to tone up the administration and to maintaindiscipline amongst the staff of the Departments atHeadquarters and in the Subordinate/attached offices.Eight new disciplinary cases were initiated during theyear of which two were completed. Of the 10 olddisciplinary cases brought forward from previous years,six cases were concluded during the year.

AdministrationVig ilance Awareness Week was observed fromNovember 6th-10th, 2006. Banners and posters weredisplayed and an oath taking ceremony was also held,wherein an oath was administered to the officials ofboth the Departments to maintain honesty in all publicdealings. The subordinate offices and autonomousbodies also observed the Vigilance Awareness Week.Chief Vigilance Officers were appointed in variousAutonomous Organisations under the administrativecontrol of the Department, wherever the post of CVOsfell vacant, with the prior approval of Central VigilanceCommission.During the year CVC has issued several instructions forimproving vigilance administration by leveragingtechnology, increasing transparency through effective useof websites in discharge of regulatory, enforcement andother functions of Govt. organizations and othervigilance related matters and all such instructions havebeen brought to the notice of all the officers and officesconcerned for compliance.As per the directions of the Hon’ble High Court ofDelhi, a massive effort is in progress to verify theauthenticity of certificates of employees who haveobtained employment on the basis of ST certificates.Emphasis was continued on the observance of disciplineand punctuality in the Department of Higher Educationand Department of School Education and Literacythrough surprise inspection by teams appointed forthis purpose.A specific grievance redressal machinery also functionsunder the CVO, who also functions as the Director ofGrievances/Director, Staff Grievances in both theDepartment of Higher Education and School Educationand Literacy. The Director of Grievances is accessibleto the staff as well as the members of public to hear theirproblems every Wednesday between 10 A.M. to 1 P.M.In order to ensure the implementation of the policy ofthe Government regarding redressal of public grievancesin its totality, autonomous/subordinate organizations andPSUs under the Department of Higher Education andSchool Education and Literacy have also designatedofficers as Director of Grievances. The grievances havebeen computerized by using the PGRAMS softwaredevised by NIC.The Committee on Complaints of Sexual Harassmentof Women at the workplace has been reconstituted tohear/accept the complaints from employees posted inthe Departments and to take appropriate steps fortimely redressal of their complaints. All theautonomous bodies under the administrative controlof the Department of Higher Education andDepartment of School Education and Literacy havebeen a

EMRC Educational Media Research Centre EP Equivalency Programme . INDLST Indian National Digital Library for Science and Technology INFLIBNETInformation for Library Network . KVS Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan LAN Local Area Network LEP Life Enrichment Programme MDM Mid-day-Meal