Conventionally, issues related to the adequacy of financing, efficiency and efficacy of the expenditures

Financing Elementary Education in India through SSA: Challenges in recent times Financing Elementary Education in India through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: Challenges in recent times Deepa Sankar South Asia Human Development The World Bank August 2007 Abstract This paper analyses recent trends in elementary education financing in India and in that context, the implication of the Planning Commission’s decision to implement the new funding pattern of 50:50 (against 75:25 so far) between the Centre and the states for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The analysis shows that SSA has been contributing additional amounts to overall and ‘per child’ education expenditures in all states, especially for new investments to expand provision and improve infrastructure and manpower in the first stage and now to increasingly focus on quality issues. The obligation of providing for these new investments was more on Centre than on states so far, but changing the funding pattern seems to affect the funding of programme. Contrary to the assumptions of Planning Commission that states are flushed with funds and have already been contributing more for the program, states are constrained by increasing budget provisions for non-developmental expenditures and decreasing shares of social sector expenditures on the one hand, and the Fiscal Responsibility regime and weak resource mobilization capacity on the other. Since most of the lagging states have not been able to commit for ...