Report of The Study Group on Resources Mobilization

Abstract

From Introduction: During the Conference of State Education Secretaries held on May 21 and 22, 1969 at New Delhi, the programmes of educational development under the Fourth Plan and their financial allocations were discussed in detail. It was the considered view of the Conference that the proposed outlay of Rs. 543 crores in the State sector for these programmes was far too inadequate to realize some of the important targets and specially to speed up the expansion of primary and middle school education with a view to an early realization of the Constitutional directive of providing free and compulsory education for all children upto the age of 14 years. Conscious of these inadequacies, the Planning Commission have suggested the mobilization of additional local resources and especially the levy of an educational cess. It was also the view of the Conference that people are prepared to pay for education if they are satisfied that such payment would lead to improve educational facilities for their children, especially because the desire for education is now far more intense than ever before. These public attitudes, the Conference felt, could be profitably utilised to raise additional resources for education. In this context, the Conference also discussed some suggestions like the levy of an educational cess on land revenue in rural areas, the levy of a similar cess on urban property, the levy of betterment funds in secondary schools, colleges and universities, enlisting community support for improving the existing facilities in schools as is done by Tamil Nadu and the raising of voluntary public contributions for the development of secondary and higher education.