Centre to foot two third of Right to Education Bill

In a major step forward, the Centre has decided to bear almost two- thirds of the cost to implement the Right to Education ( RTE) Act. On Wednesday, the finance ministry’s expenditure finance committee ( EFC) agreed to raise the Centre’s share of RTE funding to 65 per cent from 55 per cent.

The states have been asking the Centre to foot a larger share of the Rs. 2.31 - crore RTE bill ever since the Act came into effect on April 1.

The existing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ( SSA) is the vehicle to implement the RTE, which makes education a fundamental right of every child. SSA guidelines have been revamped with respect to the new act’s requirements - pucca classrooms, provisions for toilets, drinking water and playground.

Funds will also be needed for recruiting and training teachers. According to the Act, there should be one teacher for every 40 students.

The EFC clearance came after human resources development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal explained the states’ concerns to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

In real term, the states’ share will be 32 per cent, and not 35 per cent, as the Finance Commission has already awarded Rs. 24,000 crore to the states to implement the Act. “ The change in funding pattern will take care of the states’ concerns to a large extent,” an official with the HRD ministry said.

According to an earlier blueprint for the current Five- Year Plan, the states were to bear 50 per cent of the expense for SSA in place of the current 45 per cent.

But the states started demanding more funds after the RTE came into effect and set new goalposts. In fact, some states, including UP, Bihar and West Bengal, had demanded that the Centre bear 90 per cent of the RTE costs. State education ministers pressed their demands with Sibal.

He rejected the demands for 90 - per cent funding but assured greater central assistance.