With an allocation of Rs 287,362 crore for the 11th Plan period, the share of education has been increased to 18.2 per cent.

According to Planning Commission, total public spending on education is expected to increase from last year’s 3.79 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to five per cent by the end of 11th Plan.

Fifty-eight per cent of the outlay would be spent on elementary, 36 per cent on higher and technical education and six per cent on secondary education.

Identifying education as an area of special focus, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that it would bring about a massive change by bridging the knowledge gap between rural and urban areas. “Education is an area of special focus in the 11th Plan. Education is our best hope for achieving inclusiveness and for spreading development to backward regions and marginalised groups,” Dr Singh said.

Dr Singh referred to strengthening the Government education programme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.