The 2 per cent education cess imposed in the Budget for 2004-05 is estimated to yield a revenue of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore (Rs 40-50 billion) per annum, which will be earmarked for education, including the provision for a nutritious cooked midday meal.
While this is a laudable objective, one has to consider how this scheme can be implemented in the rural areas, especially in the Bimaru states (Bihar, MP, UP, and Orissa), where the need is the greatest.
Schools in India can be broadly categorised into three groups: (a) the urban schools managed by the private sector, mostly for the children of the affluent section of society, (b) state and municipal schools for the less affluent, (c) village schools in rural areas.
Among these, the schools in the first category do not need any assistance from the government. All they need is freedom from interference by the government in their fee structure and admission policies.
State and municipal schools can and do cater for the less affluent and urban poor. Where states and municipalities (e.g. in the Bimaru states) are unable to fund them adequately, an alternative way of financing them has to be found.
Instead of drawing all of it from the education cess, such schools should raise part of the funds for capital expenditure from the community. Teachers and even students can be encouraged to undertake fund-raising drives.
The involvement of the local community in funding such projects will help bring the school closer to the community. The state authorities can give the school a matching amount from the educational cess.
The central government can set apart about 25 per cent of the education cess (i.e. Rs 1,000 crore -- Rs 10 billion) for urban areas --25 per cent being approximately the proportion of the urban population in India. That will still leave Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) every year for the rural education scheme.
With regard to the village schools in the approximately 500 districts of India, the central government should involve private sector companies and private schools in their effort.
To begin with, the government should take the 100 leading companies in India and offer them, say, one district per Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) of sales turnover of the company, for a joint effort with the government for rural education.
Most young people in India have a desire to do something good for the community. But avenues to do such service are limited. The leading companies can depute four of their younger managers for one year each to work in the rural areas to set up primary schools for children in the age group 5-7. Each of them can supervise the setting up of two schools at a time in adjacent villages.
Assuming that it will take six months to build each school, the manager can help to set up four schools per annum or 20 schools in five years. With 100 such companies and four managers from each company, we can set up 8,000 rural primary schools in five years.
Arrangements should be made for the young manager to live in the rural area assigned to him. They will work with the village pradhan and local tehsildar in executing the project. Most companies should welcome such opportunities to expose their young managers to understanding rural India, where 75 per cent of our population live and where the bulk of the market exists for almost all products.
The capital cost of building a school with three classrooms of 500 sq. ft. each to accommodate 40 children per class (age group 5-7), a three-room residential quarter for three teachers, and a meeting-cum-office room, will add up to a 3,500 sq. ft. building. At Rs 300/sq. ft. of built-up area, the capital cost will be Rs 10.5 lakh (Rs 1.05 million).
If we add another Rs 1.5 lakh (Rs 150,000) for benches and tables, toilets, a bore well and pump, etc., the total cost will be approximately Rs 12 lakh (Rs 1.2 million) per primary school. For 8,000 such schools the cost over five years will be Rs 960 crore (Rs 9.60 billion).
In addition, the schools should be provided with an area of land for a model farm, where children can learn plant biology from an early age. All this may add up to Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in five years.
That will leave enough money for middle schools for children aged 8-10. These schools will need a library of books, laboratory equipment, agricultural tools and equipment, etc. All this may add up to another Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) for the five-year period for 8,000 such schools.
The cost of providing midday meals (vegetarian) and a bottle of milk for the 120 children in each primary school and 120 children in each middle school will be approximately Rs 15 per head. This will amount to Rs 3,600 per day.
Assuming 250 days of school per annum, the expenses will add up to Rs 900,000 per school per annum. For 8,000 primary and secondary schools, it will cost another Rs 720 crore (Rs 7.20 billion) per annum, i.e. Rs 3,600 crore (Rs billion) in five years.
It is evident from the above that Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) per annum can cover the cost of operating these schools and still leave a surplus, which can be used to cover more villages as the scheme takes off.
Therefore, finances are not going to be a problem. The issue is really one of ensuring their performance once the schools have been built.
That is where the involvement of private sector schools can be of real help. Many of the urban schools are owned/managed by religious organisations or family trusts.
If the government approaches them in a spirit of co-operation, most of them will agree to depute some of their staff or retired teachers to work with the selected private sector companies in specified districts in each state to help in (a) designing school buildings and facilities, (b) selecting and training teachers, (c) periodic assessment of the performance of teachers and students, and (d) managing the finances of the school.
Such deputation of staff can be for a period of one year at a time, with their affiliation to their original school being retained.
This interaction between urban schools and rural schools can be further stimulated by organising summer camps in rural areas for children from urban schools so that they can interact with children from villages.
One such camp was organised by Cathedral School in Mumbai, where children from this elitist urban school lived, ate, and played with the children from fishing villagers.
The programme turned out to be highly educative for the children, especially the urban children, who learnt about how the other half lives and thinks.
It was an opportunity that the urban children would never have got without the summer camp. Apart from promoting education, such interaction will lead to better understanding and social harmony.
To formulate a scheme for using the education cess, the government should prepare a white paper based on the above or similar ideas.
Then, a consultative conference of select private school managements and designated private sector companies should be organised in different parts of the country to formulate schemes for the utilisation of the education cess. This is the time to do it.
If the scheme is not thought through and formulated through such a consultative process, there is a real danger that the education cess will either be misused or remain largely unutilised and eventually become part of the Consolidated Fund of the government of India to cover its Budget deficits.
Surely that is not what the Prime Minister and the finance minister want!
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