1. SARVA SHIKHSHA ABHIYAN INDIA’S FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME FOR ACHIEVING UEE Anuradha De and Meera Samson Collaborative Research and Dissemination, New Delhi

2. SSA 2002-2012 A programme of education reform with a macro perspective: Looks to strengthen demand, supply and governance through systemic reforms and mainscaling good practices

3. SSA’s goals: Enrolment and retention of all children in school till Class 8 Universal in its focus – All of India’s districts were covered Mammoth programme All children to be enrolled and retained in school for 8 years – Earlier goal was 5 years of schooling

4. Situation in which SSA was set up Considerable progress in the 90s – adult literacy / primary school enrolment / infrastructure and facilities in primary schools Problems remained Still gaps between States; and between districts in the same State Indicators still low among disadvantaged groups Access and quality of upper primary schooling needed urgent attention

5. 4 critical features of SSA Funding in place: Centrally sponsored scheme, States contributed a share Process of planning, implementation and monitoring was decentralised Community organisations had more power to implement programmes An external monitoring and evaluation mechanism was in place

6. Challenges faced in SSA implementation Decentralised planning process was not smooth. – District, block and school level staff struggled with the new system. Partly, they were not motivated, partly they lacked the capacity to deliver. – Negotiations between Centre and States more difficult when political parties in charge were opposed to each other. GoI appointed a Technical Resource Group, EdCIL, to provide inputs as required

7. Challenges faced in SSA implementation Community-based school management organisations in some States successful in some areas – improving school infrastructure and facilities. Less successful in others: – Unable to improve levels of teaching activity Biannual monitoring and evaluations through JRMs was useful. – Impact of field visits was limited as they were based on visits to sites pre-selected by States.

8. SSA – inclusive framework All existing government schemes in all States in the country for children in the 6-14 age group were brought under the umbrella of SSA. With SSA the same framework was applicable to the whole country. – Reduced possibilities for confusion – Increased chances of successful delivery of services

9. SSA – had flexibility within the overall framework Education a sector in which both the Centre and the States have a role. India’s States reveal wide regional variations – SSA allows for this diversity Within the broad SSA framework, States could choose their own paths – e.g. how they recruit teachers; what role they give CSOs

10. SSA – built on strong foundations Based on lessons learnt from educational reform in the 90s Innovative initiatives -- Lok Jumbish and Shiksha Karmi Programme State-specific initiatives DPEP - Large pan-Indian initiative in about a third of India’s districts Programmes involved use of CSOs with experience of local conditions and successful initiatives in the education sector

11. SSA framework document saw an important role for CSOs Study selected 2 States to understand the role that CSOs played in those States – Rajasthan -- 68 million – Madhya Pradesh – 72 million – Both States had very active CSO contributions in the 90s Study found CSOs given limited space in SSA Phase 1 (till 2005)

12. Contribution of CSOs / private players Post mid-term review in 2005 Local, not-for-profit CSOs with experience in the education sectors used as resource persons Rajasthan set up the Rajasthan Education Initiative to encourage private players; MP set up a Partnership Cell Both States gave space to Foundations attached to for-profit groups – GoR gave greater space

13. Contributions of CSOs post RTE The RTE Act, 2009 has made it mandatory for schools – to admit out-of-school children to age-appropriate grades – to remove barriers to schooling of all children including those with Special Needs – to provide children with all-round development – to assess children based on Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation State governments have turned to CSOs for technical inputs in all these areas

14. Achievements of SSA: Considerable progress towards some EFA goals Enrolment in the 6-14 age group was 95% in 2007-08 Gender gap in school attendance rates at primary and upper primary stages nearly closed Social gaps reduced

15. Challenges remain Only 68% of 16-17 year olds have completed 8 years of schooling Slow progress in improving learning achievements in school Suggestions for the way ahead Need to continue to build capacity at community, school and block levels to strengthen demand, supply and governance.