CBPS undertook a study that aimed to comprehensively map relevant programmes and schemes related to children's education, and analyse the budget and expenditures of the same. Multiple Ministries and departments offer various programmes and schemes, with differing amounts of resources and budgets allocated to them. Some schemes have been interlinked with or subsumed under others, such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan being integrated under the broader Samagra Shiksha programme.
However, the existence of multiple schemes with similar objectives has led to parallel institutional arrangements and a duplication of efforts and personnel allocation in terms of implementation. The introduction of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has also restructured the educational sector further. Despite the extensive policy landscape, there is little clarity on the content of schemes and programmes and their attached budget/resource allocation. Hence, a mapping of all the programmes and schemes by various ministries and departments including the size of resources attempted to aid in understanding the policy landscape better, and specifically with: (i) identification of areas where process reforms could make the delivery more efficient, and (ii) identification of resource rich and resource-poor areas for future budget priorities.
The mapping exercise also threw light upon the issues of duplication of efforts and lack of coordination leading to the identification of processes that need to be reformed. The specific objectives were – – Mapping of all the major schemes relevant for ECE or/and school education covering the age-group of 3-18 years by all departments/ministries, and for the age of children and stage of education. Mapping of these programmes and schemes by their respective objectives and contributions in attaining the school education goals. – Mapping the budget and expenditure of these programmes and schemes (including salaries and programme expenditure) by size, sources (Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Central sector schemes and state schemes) and gauge their relative importance in total budget/expenditure for education through an analysis of both trends and patterns. – Identification of areas where process reforms could improve service delivery (including the issues of coordination and decision-making exercises) and alignment of objectives for certain key programmes and schemes.