The UN agency Unesco has praised the success of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme and government’s political commitment in implementing the same. In a rare appreciation of this moribund the government, the UN body Unesco has said lauded the progressed the most in the world in sending children to schools by committed implementation of its right to education law and universal elementary education programme. This has the country’s netting the “largest share of aid” to basic education of any country in the world at 10 per cent or $578 million in aid during 2011, which is 50 percent more than the previous year.  

 

“India has made the largest progress in absolute terms of any country in the world reducing out of school (children) numbers from 20 million in 2000 to 2.3 million in 2006, and (around) 1.7 million by latest data (2011),” Unesco’s latest Education for all global monitoring report said.

 

The UN agency lauded the government’s effort and political commitment in implementing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a welfare programme-driven elementary education, and making education a legal entitlement.

 

“Since 2000, it’s fact that enrolment has gone up significantly. But many students are only in school registers,” said educationist Vinod Raina. “Education is not about only enrolment. You have to look at enrolment, attendance and dropout rate together.

 

“In India, the attendance rate is around 70 per cent and the dropout rate is nearly 40 per cent at the elementary level. These are not comfortable numbers at all,” said the report.