The Karnataka government is keen to adopt an eight-year elementary education cycle in place of the present seven-year cycle and will soon submit its “transition plan” to the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, seeking appropriate fund allocation.
“The Ministry is very keen on implementation of eight-year elementary education cycle and so are we. We have expressed our commitment in this regard. We will approach the Ministry again with our transition plan (to replace seven years of elementary education cycle with eight years) within a week,” Primary and Secondary Education Secretary Kumar G Naik told Deccan Herald.
He was here to attend the Annual Plan Approval Board meeting (PAB), presided over by Anshu Vaish, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Union HRD Ministry.
Naik said that HRD Ministry has made a “good increase” in the outlay for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). “They have assured to increase the allocation by Rs 200 crore plus under SSA. We had, however, sought an increase of Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore for the implementation of the scheme,” he said.
Last year, the Ministry had allocated Rs 1,450 crore to Karnataka under SSA. “We hope we will get nearly Rs 1,700 crore under the scheme this time,” Naik said.
Transition plan
The HRD Ministry has indicated that it may further increase allocations under SSA after examining the 'transition plan' of the state government, he added
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, envisages eight-year elementary education cycle, comprising five years of primary and three years of higher primary education.
The HRD Ministry has asked all the states to adopt the eight-year elementary education cycle before March 2013. While all the states are ready to adopt the new cycle, with many having implemented it already, Goa is the only state which has sought exemption.
