The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Purandeswari asks States to step up education spending

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Purandeswari asks States to step up education spending

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Daggubati Purandeswari has urged the State governments to step up their spending on education.

This was necessary to let the fruits of education percolate down to the last child, Ms. Purandeswari said after opening the 20th triennial convention of the Xavier Board of Higher Education here on Friday.

She said that in view of the landmark right to education law and the need for expanding the education base of the nation, the education sector required a much higher fund allocation.

While the Union government had enormously increased its education allocation, the States' contributions had declined over the past few years. The Centre was now allocating close to 4 per cent of its budgetary pie to education and gradually increasing the share. She wanted the States to significantly increase their shares.

Ms. Purandeswari said the government wanted to set up an ‘Educational Finance Corporation' to give financial support and loans to young people so that more of them could seek higher education. She said the gross enrolment ratio in the higher education sector in India was “abysmally low” at 12 to 14 per cent, far below the international average of 23. The Planning Commission had planned to raise the ratio to 15 per cent, but this was a “Herculean task” now.

She said the government would dovetail the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme with the right to education law. She said there was a 20-25 per cent shortage of qualified teachers in the higher education sector.

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