SSA

A programme with a clear time frame for universal elementary education. » A response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country. » An opportunity for promoting social justice through basic education. » An effort at effectively involving the Panchayati Raj Institutions, School Management Committees, Village and Urban Slum Level Education Committees, Parents’ Teachers’ Associations, Mother Teacher Associations, Tribal Autonomous Councils and other grass root level structures in the management of elementary schools. Basic Features of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is an effort to universalize elementary education by community-ownership of the school system. It is a response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country. The SSA program is also an attempt to provide an opportunity for improving human capabilities to all children, through provision of community-owned quality education in a mission mode.

Objectives of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan   » All children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007. » All children complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010. » Focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life. » Bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary education level by 2010. » Universal retention by 2010.      Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) or “Anaivarukkum Kalvi Thittam” is an effort to universalize elementary education through community ownership of the schooling system. It is a programme designed to universalize elementary education within a definite timeframe.

The 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan' (Hindi: The 'Education for All' Movement, is a flagship programme of the Government of India pioneered by Atal Bihari Vajpayee for achievement of universalization of elementary education in a time bound manner, as mandated by the 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to children of ages 6–14 (estimated to be 205 million in number in 2001) a fundamental right. The programme aims to achieve the goal of universalization of elementary education of satisfactory quality by 2010. There are 8 main programs in SSA.It includes ICDS,AANGANWADI etc. It also Includes KGBVY. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidalaya Yojana was started in 2004 with a view to give primary education to all girls. later on it was merged with SSA.it is not written in Hindi language. Goals All in school by 2005. Complete 5 years of primary education by 2005 and 8 years of schooling by 2010. Satisfactory Quality with emphasis on education for life. Bridge all gender and social gaps at primary level by 2007 and elementary level by 2010. Universal retention by 2010. The program seeks to open new schools in those habitations which do not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and school improvement grants. Existing schools with inadequate teacher strength are provided with additional teachers, while the capacity of existing teachers is being strengthened by extensive training, grants for developing teaching-learning materials and strengthening of the academic support structure at a cluster, block and district level. SSA seeks to provide quality elementary education including life skills. SSA has a special focus on girl's education and children with special needs. SSA also seeks to provide computer education to bridge the digital divide. Due to low attendance mid day meal was introduced Recognizing good performance, outlay for SSA has been increased from Rs 7156 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 10004 crore in 2006-07. Target is to construct 500,000 additional class rooms and to appoint 1,50,000 more teachers. During 2006-07, it has been decided to transfer Rs 8746 crore to the Prarambhik Siksha Kosh from the revenues raised through the education cess. Interventions There are fifteen interventions in SSA BRC (Block Resource Center) CRC (Cluster Resource Center) MGLC&AIE - Alternative and innovative education(AIE) is one of the major interventions of SSA to provide access for all children to primary education. Various strategies has been developed for ensuring participation of children of marginalised and deprived groups in tribal and coastal areas. Civil works- The civil works component is important under SSA. Under this component, there is massive investment up to the limit of 33% of the total project budget. Provision of school infrastructure helps in providing access to children, and also helps in their retention, both of which are important objectives of the SSA. Provision of infrastructure for Resources Centres at sub-district levels helps in creating academic support, which acts as a catalyst towards quality improvement. The following constructions are under taken under civil works. Free text books Innovative activities - The innovative programmes implemented in schools are acting as a catalyst in the process of achieving useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6-14 age group and to bridge social, regional and gender gaps in the active participation of the community. The programmes are successful in creating interest in students on education and helped to retain their studies. The schemes implemented under Innovative Schemes are: * Early Childhood Care and Education, Girls Education, SC/ST Education and Computer Education IEDC Management & MIS R&E (Research and Evaluation)- This intervention consists of Research, Evaluation, Supervision and Monitoring. The norms propose an amount of Rs.1,500/- per school for the development of capacities and supervision through resource/research institutions on an effective EMIS. There are provisions for regular school mapping/micro planning for updating of household data. The funds can be utilised for both government and government aided schools. Following activities are proposed under the intervention. 1)Creating a pool of resource persons for effective field based monitoring, 2)Providing regular generation of community based data, 3)Conducting achievement test, evaluation studies, 4)Undertaking research activities, 5)Setting up special task force for low female literacy districts and for special monitoring of girls, SC, ST etc.6)Incurring expenditure on Education Management Information System 7)Undertaking contingent expenditure like charts, posters, sketch pen, OHP pen etc. for visual monitoring systems 8)Conduct cohort studies. School grant- School grant at Rs.2,000 each was given to schools under the project. Out of the school grant Rs.1000 was given to improvement of school library facilities. The rest was utilized towards making the nonfunctional equipment functional, school beautification, repair and maintenance of furniture, musical instruments and over all environment development of schools. Teacher grant- In order to improve the class room transactions and preparation of teaching aids grant at Rs.500 is given to all LP/UP teachers. The teachers utilized the grant to produce and procure TLM for effective classroom transactions. During 2007-2008, 547590 teachers both LP/UP were benefited. Teacher Training- The quality education is the most important goal of SSA. The various strategies to improve the training are : 1)Training and retraining of teachers, 2)Familiarisation training on new curriculum and text books, 3)Familiarisation training on National Curriculum Frame Work (NCF 2005), 4)Examination reforms, 5)Training on grading system and assessment on the impact of grading system, 6)Scholastic and non-Scholastic areas improvement, 7)Training of teachers on Inclusive Education for children with special needs, 8)Planning and implementation of quality education measures, 9)Resource groups are strengthened at all levels (separate Resource Groups for each subjects) 300-350 Resource Person per district) Follow up activities, on-site support and review meetings are ensured. DIETs identified training needs - hard spots and develop training modules. This process helped to improve the quality of training. Training for Trainers and Block Programme Officers was conducted. Remedial teaching Community mobilisation Distance education - The Distance Education Programme (DEP) is a National component of SSA, which is sponsored by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. It is being implemented by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in collaboration with all States/ Union Territories of India. The DEP-SSA will be an important input in the in-service education of teachers and other personnel in the area of elementary education. It will supplement the face-to-face training by using Multi-media packages like audio-video programmes, radio broadcast, teleconferencing etc. The Distance mode of training would not only help address a larger number of individuals, but also would provide uniformity in training inputs and reduce the transmission loss, which is generally experienced in the face-to-face cascade model of training. Activities Civil infrastructure developments and improving This include construction of class rooms, drinking water facility, compound walls, wash rooms, separation walls, electrification and civil repair and reconstruction of existing facility. Major part of the fund is spend to this as most of the village schools were in poor and unsafe condition. The civil construction works are done in support with local governmental bodies and PTA (Parent Teachers Association). SSA strongly believe that improvement in infrastructure facilities is a core to improve the education level in rural areas. Apart from the school facility improvements, there are constructions of CRCs (Cluster resource centers) and BRCs (Block resource centers) built near to existing school facilities. Teacher training One of the major initiative of SSA. Continuous teacher training on education methodology, child psychology, learning while doing, evaluation methodology and parental training are given to primary teachers. These sort of trainings in the first instance given to a selected group of teachers among the primary teachers who later called as resource persons. The major idea behind the teacher training is to update teachers with new developments in teaching and learning process.

Achievements This program made significant achievements at village levels. In 2004 many villages in India were covered and preliminary education centers opened. In the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a village called Sattanathapuram (Town: Sirkazhi) located in Nagapattinam district, is one of the first village to implement this program successfully. Afternoon meal schemes for poor kids in support of state government combined with education for all programs made significant progress in literacy rate. Non-governmental organizations donated generously the lands for poor people and the construction of schools completed by Village panchayats.good