BUDGET BRIEFS Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) GOI, …accountabilityindia.in/sites/default/files/pdf_files/Sarva Shiksha...Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a flagship programme for universal

SUMMARY & ANALYSIS

HIGHLIGHTS

Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research, Dharam Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110021

₹ 79,686 crGOI allocations for the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)in FY 2017-18

₹ 23,500 crGOI allocations for SSAin FY 2017-18

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)GOI, 2017-18

BUDGET BRIEFSVol 9/ Issue 2

Prepared by: Avani Kapur, [email protected] & Mridusmita Bordoloi, [email protected]

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the Government of India’s (GOI) flagship elementary education programme. Launched in 2001,it aims to provide universal education to children between the ages of 6 to 14 years. SSA is now the primary vehicle for implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE).

This brief uses government reported data to analyse Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) performance along the following parameters:l Overall trends in GOI

allocations and expendituresl Allocations and expenditure

performance across key SSA activities for 6 states.

l Compliance with the RTEl Outcomes

Cost share and implementation: From FY 2010-11 till FY 2014-15, GOI contributed 65% of the total SSA funds. From October 2015, this has been revised to 60% with states contributing 40%.

Complete expenditure data is available for FY 2015-16.

■ GOI SSA allocations remain far below the resource estimates made by MHRD. In FY 2015-16, MHRD estimated a demand of `50,000 crore for SSA. However, SSA received only `22,015 crore (revised estimates). Similarly, in FY 2016-17, while MHRD estimated a resource demand of `55,000 crore, SSA received only ̀ 22,500 crore (RE). In FY 2017-18, GOI allocation for SSA stands at `23,500 crore, a 4 per cent increased over the previous FY.

■ Over the years, there have been inconsistencies between budgets approved by MHRD and the actual allocations made by GOI. In FY 2014-15, GOI allocations accounted for a mere 43 per cent of the total budgets approved. This share declined even further to 30 per cent in FY 2016-17.

■ Expenditure as a share of total approved budgets has been decreasing. In FY 2015-16, 70 per cent of the approved budget was spent, down from 75 per cent in FY 2014-15.

■ There are significant state variations in expenditures across states. In FY 2015-16, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat spent more than 90 per cent of their total SSA approvals. In contrast, West Bengal and Telangana spent 40 per cent and 41 per cent of approved budgets, respectively.

■ According to the National Achievement Survey (NAS), only 36 per cent of Class V students across India scored more than 50 per cent in reading comprehension and 37 per cent scored more than 50 per cent in mathematics in 2014.

2 ACCOUNTABILITY INITIATIVE, INDIA

■ Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a flagship programme for universal elementary education for children in the age group of 6-14 years, is the largest programme run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

Allocations

■ In FY 2017-18, the GOI allocated `23,500 crore to SSA. This is a 4 per cent increase from the previous financial year.

■ However, GOI allocations for SSA as a share of total MHRD allocations has been decreasing. In FY 2015-16, SSA accounted for 33 per cent of MHRD allocations. This has decreased to 31 per cent In FY 2016-17 and 29 per cent in FY 2017-18.

■ GOI SSA allocations, however, remain far below the resource estimates made by MHRD. In FY 2015-16, MHRD estimated a demand of `50,000 crore for SSA. However, SSA received only `22,015 crore (revised estimates). Similarly, in FY 2016-17, while MHRD estimated a resource demand of `55,000 crore, the SSA budget for the year was `22,500 crore (RE).

GOI ALLOCATIONS FOR SSA INCREASED BY 4% BETWEEN 2016-17 AND 2017-18

TRENDS IN GOI ALLOCATIONS AND EXPENDITURES

Source: Union Expenditure Budget, Vol. 2, 2010-11 to 2017-18. Available online at: www.indiabudget.nic.in. Note: All figures are in rupees crore and include the North East component. Figures up to 2016-17 are revised estimates. For 2017-18, budget estimates are used. Last accessed on 1 February, 2017.

■ GOI allocations for SSA are primarily funded through a 2 per cent education cess called the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK). PSK is a tax-on-tax paid by the public. The contribution of PSK to SSA financing has increased significantly from 50 per cent in FY 2010-11 to 62 per cent in FY 2017-18.

■ Release of GOI allocations: Under the revised fund flow mechanism introduced in FY 2014-15, GOI allocations are first released to state treasuries. Money is then routed to autonomous implementing bodies known as State Implementation Societies (SISs). In FY 2014-15, 99 per cent of GOI allocations were released. This decreased marginally to 98 per cent in FY 2015-16. In FY 2016-17, till December 2016, 84 per cent of GOI allocations for SSA had been released to the states.

■ SSA funds approved by MHRD: SSA allocations are based on Annual Work Plan and Budgets (AWP&Bs) submitted by state governments. These plans are meant to be an aggregation of school and district level plans. State level allocations are finalised after negotiations with MHRD, in consultation with individual state governments. Approved allocations for a state include both the state and GOI shares for that specific financial year.

■ The GOI-state fund sharing ratio for SSA was revised in October 2015, to 60:40. The ratio for North East and Himalayan states is 90:10.

19,000 21,000

23,645

26,608 24,380

22,015 22,500 23,500

-

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 (BE)

GOI allocations for SSA ( ̀Crore)

BUDGET BRIEFS, SSA, GOI 2017-18, VOL9/ISSUE2 3

■ Over the years, there have been inconsistencies between budgets approved by MHRD and the actual allocations made by GOI. In FY 2014-15, GOI allocations accounted for a mere 43 per cent of the total budgets approved. This share declined even further to 30 per cent in FY 2016-17.

■ Per-student SSA allocations: Per-student SSA allocations (including both GOI and state shares) are calculated by dividing total approved budgets by the number of children enrolled in government schools. Per-student allocations have seen a steady increase since FY 2013-14. In FY 2016-17, per-student allocations stood at `6,350 (using 2015 enrolment numbers), a 17 per cent increase from FY 2015-16. It should be noted that one reason for this increase is a 2 per cent drop in government school enrolment numbers between 2014 and 2015.

PER-STUDENT SSA ALLOCATIONS INCREASED STEADILY SINCE 2013-14

Expenditure Performance

■ Expenditure as a share of total approved budgets has been decreasing. In FY 2015-16, 70 per cent of the approved budget was spent, down from 75 per cent in FY 2014-15. Due to lack of data on funds released by states for FY 2015-16, it is unclear whether the low expenditures are due to a delay in fund release or because of the low absorption capacity of states.

70% OF SSA APPROVED BUDGETS SPENT IN 2015-16, DOWN FROM 75% IN 2014-15

Source: Joint Review Mission Reports, downloaded from the SSA website till March 2016; allocation figures for 2015-16 and 2016-17 are from Lok Sabha starred question no. 62 answered on 21 November 2016; elementary enrolment figures are from ‘District Information System for Education’ (DISE) 2015-16, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). For 2016-17 enrolment for 2015 has been used. Last accessed on 15 January, 2017.

Source: Joint Review Mission Reports, downloaded from the SSA website till March 2016; figures for 2015-16 from Lok Sabha starred question no. 62 answered on 21 November 2016. Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

3,511

4,771

5,596

3,913

4,720

5,424

6,350

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Per-student SSA allocations ( )`

61 63

8475

70

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Expenditure as a percentage of total SSA approved funds


TRENDS IN ALLOCATIONS AND EXPENDITURES AT THE STATE LEVELAllocations

■ Government school enrolment vs. SSA approved allocations: In 2015, five Indian states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal – accounted for 54 per cent of total elementary school enrolment. Together, these states received 60 per cent of the SSA approved allocations in FY 2016-17.

■ In FY 2016-17, Uttar Pradesh received 26 per cent of the total SSA approved budget, while it accounted for 14 per cent of enrolment in government schools in 2015. Bihar, which accounted for 18 per cent of the total government school enrolment, received the second largest share of SSA money at 13 per cent.

■ Per-student allocations: There are wide variations in per-student allocations across states. Jammu and Kashmir had the highest per-student allocation of `20,129 in FY 2016-17, followed by Nagaland, at ` 18,055.

■ Per-student allocations in Delhi and Jharkhand were the lowest. Among the large states, Maharashtra had one of the lowest per-student allocations at `3,860 – 40 per cent lower than the all-India average. Uttar Pradesh, which ranked seventh in per-student allocations across all 36 states and Union Territories, recorded amongst the highest increase in per-student allocations between FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17.

Source: Lok Sabha starred question no. 62 answered on 21 November 2016. Government elementary enrolment figures are from ‘District Information System for Education’ (DISE) 2015-16, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

State's share in total elementary enrolment in government schools, 2015-16

State's share in approved SSA allocations, 2016-17

14

18

57

10

4 35

35

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Andhra Pra

desh

Gujarat

Chhattis

garh

Mahar

ashtra

Uttar P

rades

hBihar

Rajasth

an

Madhya

Prades

h

West B

engal

Tamil N

adu

26

13

8 7 6

4 4 3 3 3

DISTRIBUTION OF SSA ALLOCATIONS VS. ELEMENTARY ENROLMENT IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS


Source: SSA allocations (state and central shares combined) for 2016-17 are from Lok Sabha starred question no. 62 answered on 21 November 2016. Government elementary enrolment figures for 2015-16 are from ‘District Information System for Education’ (DISE), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). For 2016-17, enrolment for 2015 has been used. Last accessed on 15 January, 2017.


■ Expenditure is measured as a proportion of approved budgets. There are significant variations in expenditures across states. In FY 2015-16, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat spent more than 90 per cent of their total SSA approvals. In contrast, West Bengal and Telangana spent 40 per cent and 41 per cent of approved budgets, respectively.

■ The proportion of approved funds spent improved considerably in Jammu and Kashmir from 39 per cent in FY 2014-15 to 77 per cent in FY 2015-16. Other states that saw some improvements in expenditure include Bihar, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

■ The proportion of expenditure to approved funds decreased significantly in Maharashtra and Haryana. Maharashtra and Haryana spent 83 per cent of total approvals in FY 2014-15. This decreased to 54 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively, in FY 2015-16.

WHILE JAMMU AND KASHMIR ALLOCATED THE HIGHEST SSA FUNDS PER STUDENT, MAHARASHTRA ALLOCATED ONE OF THE LOWEST IN 2016-17

Per-student SSA allocations ( ), 2016-17`

0 10,000 20,000 30,000

Maharashtra

Assam

West Bengal

Odisha

Karnataka

Gujarat

Bihar

Punjab

Kerala

Tamil Nadu

Haryana

Madhya Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Rajasthan

Uttar Pradesh

Nagaland

Jammu and Kashmir 20,129

18,055

11,453

9,363

8,428

7,354

6,546

6,385

6,369

5,933

5,111

4,485

4,455

4,422

4,385

4,188

4,050

3,860


Source: Lok Sabha starred question no. 62 answered on 21 November 2016. Government elementary enrolment figures are from ‘District Information System for Education’ DISE for 2015-16. Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

The SSA budget can be broadly classified into six categories:■ Teachers, which includes teacher salaries, teacher training and teacher learning materials or equipment■ Schools, includes infrastructure expenses such as construction of civil works and maintenance grants■ Children, includes allocations that directly benefit children enrolled in school, such as transport allowance,

uniforms, textbooks and mainstreaming activities to get out-of-school children back into school. In addition, reimbursement of per-child costs for 25 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections in private schools has been added to this category

■ Quality, covers largely untied monies for activities to improve learning, such as the learning enhancement programme and innovation grants to districts

■ Management, covers allocations related to administration and management activities■ Miscellaneous, includes allocations made for community training and mobilisation

Allocations

■ The FY 2016-17, AWP&Bs for most states were not available in the public domain at the time of preparing this brief. This brief thus analyses trends in six states – Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Bihar and Maharashtra – for which data was available.

■ There are differences between allocations proposed by the state governments and those approved by MHRD. In FY 2016-17, 52 per cent of SSA budgets proposed by Bihar and 53 per cent by Punjab were approved. In contrast, 78 per cent of SSA budgets proposed by Karnataka were approved.

■ Differences also exist across components in FY 2016-17. In Bihar while more than 85 per cent of the proposed budget for Children was approved, only 25 per cent of the budget proposed for Schools and 35 per cent for Quality

EXPENDITURE AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALLOCATED FUNDS WAS LOWEST IN WEST BENGAL IN 2015-16

COMPONENT-WISE BREAK-UP OF ALLOCATIONS AND EXPENDITURES

40 4146 47 47

54

77 7882

92 94

53 5361

7383 83

39

69 68

90 88

Percentage of SSA expenditure as a share of total allocations in 2014-15Percentage of SSA expenditure as a share of total allocations in 2015-16

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Source: States’ Annual Work Plan & Budgets (AWP&Bs) for 2016-17 and PAB Minutes from individual states’ education department websites. Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

was approved. In contrast, MHRD approved 90 per cent and 96 per cent of the proposed budgets for Quality and Management, respectively, for Karnataka.

■ In FY 2016-17, all five states allocated a majority of their approved SSA funds for the Teachers component. Maharashtra is the exception, which allocated only 35 per cent. In states such as Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab, around one-fifth of the total SSA funds were allocated to Management. The share of SSA funds allocated to the Quality component was less than 5 per cent for all the six states.

IN 2016-17, BIHAR ALLOCATED 80% OF ITS SSA FUNDS TO ‘TEACHERS’, WHILE MAHARASHTRA ALLOCATED 35%


■ There were wide variations in expenditure across different SSA components and states in FY 2015-16. At the time of preparation of this brief, component wise SSA expenditure data was available for six states: Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Bihar and Maharashtra.

■ In FY 2015-16, the Teachers component of the SSA budget accounted for 70 per cent of total SSA approvals in Bihar and 92 per cent of the approved funds were spent. In contrast, whilst Teachers accounted for 75 per cent of total approvals in Tamil Nadu, only 52 per cent of the funds were spent.

■ Among the states studied, Maharashtra allocated one of the highest share of SSA funds (24 per cent) to Schools, and spent 52 per cent. Bihar, which allocated 15 per cent of its total budget to Schools, spent only 27 per cent in FY 2015-16.

67 6253 50

80

35

8

5

6 17

7

16

13

815

10

9

34

3

4 4 4

1

2

8

20 20 19

311

1 1 1 1 0 1

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Madhya Pradesh Himachal Pradesh Karnataka Punjab Bihar Maharashtra

Teachers School Children Quality Management Miscellaneous



IN 2015-16, WHILE BIHAR SPENT 92% OF THE SSA FUNDS ALLOCATED TO ‘TEACHERS’,TAMIL NADU SPENT ONLY 52%

IN 2015-16, BIHAR SPENT ONLY 27% OF THE ALLOCATED FUNDS FOR SCHOOLS,WHILE TAMIL NADU SPENT 96%


RTE COMPLIANCE■ In 2010, GOI passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) mandating minimum

infrastructure and human resource requirements for states. SSA is the primary vehicle for implementing the RTE act.

■ Nearly seven years later, states are still to meet RTE norms across a range of indicators. The largest shortfalls are in the availability of playgrounds and construction of boundary walls.

75

60

50

70

24

52

84

63

92100

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

arthsarahaMrahiBbajnuPakatanraKudaN limaT

Percentage share of SSA funds allocated to Teachers, 2015-16

Expenditure on Teachers as of approved allocations, 2015-16a percentage

4 8

2315

24

96

41

59

27

52

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

arthsarahaMrahiBbajnuPakatanraKudaN limaT

Expenditure on Schools as a percentage of approved allocations, 2015-16Percentage share of SSA funds allocated to Schools, 2015-16


MEETING RTE INFRASTRUCTURE GOALS IS LIKELY TO TAKE MUCH LONGER THAN ORIGINALLY ENVISAGED

Source: ‘Elementary Education in India: Trends 2005-06 to 2015-16’, ‘District Information System for Education’ (DISE), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

Teacher Vacancies

■ RTE stipulates that no school shall have a teacher vacancy of more than 10 per cent and SSA will support states in recruiting adequate number of teachers. As of December 2015, teachers sanctioned through SSA accounted for 38 per cent of total teachers under elementary education. There are, however, a large number of vacancies. Whilst 14 per cent of teacher posts sanctioned by states (non-SSA) were vacant, 20 per cent of SSA sanctioned teacher posts were vacant as of December 2015.

■ Latest state-wise data on teacher vacancies is available for total elementary school teachers (SSA and state recruited) as of March 2016. Among all states and UTs in India teacher vacancies as a proportion of total sanctioned posts was highest in Jharkhand, standing at 38 per cent. This was followed by Bihar at 34 per cent and Delhi at 25 per cent.

55 5259

93

32

4616

98 97

27

0

20

40

60

80

100

Percentage of schoolswith playground

Percentage of schools withboundary wall

Percentage of schoolswith girls' toilet

Percentage of schools withdrinking water facility

Student-classroom ratio

2009-102015-16


OUTCOMES■ Tracking progress on learning outcomes amongst school-going children is increasingly being prioritized. From

FY 2017-18 onwards NITI Aayog and MHRD will roll out an index to measure state performance on the quality of school education.

Learning Levels

■ Since 2001, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been conducting an all-India representative sample-based survey called National Achievement Survey (NAS) to track in-school learning achievements in three subjects: reading comprehension, mathematics and environment studies. The latest round of NAS publicly available is the fourth cycle conducted for Class V students in 2014.

TEACHER VACANCIES AS A SHARE OF TOTAL SANCTIONED POSTSHAVE BEEN HIGHEST IN BIHAR AND JHARKHAND

Source: : Lok Sabha starred question no. 265 answered on 5 December 2016. Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

11

12

13

13

13

17

17

18

18

19

20

23

23

25

34

38

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Gujarat

Jammu and Kashmir

Andhra Pradesh

Rajasthan

Telangana

Uttarakhand

Haryana

Madhya Pradesh

Chhattisgarh

West Bengal

Assam

Uttar Pradesh

Punjab

Delhi

Bihar

Jharkhand

Teachers' vacancies (SSA+Non-SSA) as percentage of total sanctioned posts, as on March 2016


NATIONALLY ONLY 36% OF CLASS V STUDENTS SCORED MORE THAN 50% IN READING COMPREHENSION

Source: : ‘What Students of Class V Know and Can Do: A Summary of India’s National Achievement Survey’, Class V (Cycle 4), 2015, NCERT. Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

■ Nationally, only 36 per cent of Class V students scored more than 50 per cent in reading comprehension and 37 per cent scored more than 50 per cent in mathematics.

■ There are considerable variations across states. For instance, around 9 per cent of students in Bihar and 18 per cent in Chhattisgarh scored more than 50 per cent in reading comprehension questions. In fact, 76 per cent of students in Bihar and 65 per cent of students in Chhattisgarh scored less than 35 per cent in reading comprehension.

■ In contrast, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala around half of the Class V students scored more than 50 per cent in reading comprehension.

■ Some states do better in mathematics than reading comprehension. More than 50 per cent of students scored more than 50 per cent in mathematics in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Similarly, in Bihar and Rajasthan, 37 per cent and 45 per cent of Class V students scored more than 50 per cent in mathematics, respectively.

■ Chhattisgarh was amongst the lowest performers across all three subjects whilst Tamil Nadu was one of the top performers.

5045 44

3730

3642 40

9

2630 31

44 41

52

2418

57 54 5349

45 45 4439 37 37 37 37 35 33

24 22

10

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Percentage of Class V children who scored more than 50 per cent in mathematics

Percentage of Class V children who scored more than 50 per cent in reading comprehension

Chhattis

garh

Himac

hal Pra

desh

Mahar

ashtra

Wes

t Ben

galDelh

i

Punjab

Madhya

Prades

h

Rajasth

an

Jhar

khan

dBihar

Uttar P

rades

h

Harya

na

Odisha

Gujarat

Karnat

aka

Tamil N

adu

Kerala


Government vs. Private School Enrolment

■ Enrolment in government schools has been declining over the past few years, whilst that of private schools has been increasing.

■ According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the proportion of children at the primary level attending private schools (aided and unaided combined) increased from 27 per cent in 2007-08 to 38 per cent in 2014. Similarly, for classes VI- VIII, the proportion of children attending private schools increased from 30 per cent to 34 per cent during the same period.

■ In addition to private schooling, the number of students opting for private tuitions has also increased. In 2014, 25 per cent of students in government schools and 27 per cent of students in private schools took additional private tuitions.

1.4 CRORE FEWER STUDENTS IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN 2015-16 COMPARED TO 2009-10

Source: ‘Elementary Education in India: Trends 2005-06 to 2015-16’, District Information System for Education (DISE), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NEUPA). Last accessed on 10 January, 2017.

13.1 13.0 12.9 12.5 12.2 11.9 11.7

5.7 5.9 6.5 7.0 7.1 7.4 7.5

0

5

10

15

01-9002 11-0102 21-1102 31-2102 41-3102 51-4102 61-5102

Elementary enrolment in government schools (crore) Elementary enrolment in private schools (crore)

Documents

BUDGET BRIEFS Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) GOI, …accountabilityindia.in/sites/default/files/pdf_files/Sarva Shiksha...Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a flagship programme for universal