Universal Education Programme ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’: Assessment of a Government Initiative in India

The provision of basic education at the primary level is of utmost importance and is very essential for the proper growth and development of human beings. Keeping this in mind Government of India, initiated a program known as Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan which aims at providing useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 614 age group by the year 2010 with special emphasis on girl's education. The present study was carried out to understand the effectiveness of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and focused on assessing the perception, knowledge and satisfaction level of different stakeholders regarding selected program components. The study was carried out in Sarvodaya Schools in the capital city of Delhi. These are schools under the aegis of the government of India meant specifically for students belonging to low income group families. The study revealed that despite some loopholes that were found in the program, the program had been very effective in mainstreaming out of school children and reducing drop outs. Some areas that need to be looked into to improve the efficacy of the program were awareness level about the program, allocation of funds for teaching learning material (TLM), appointing well qualified teachers for refresher courses and providing NGO's who are parterners in the program with better funding and timely dispersal of the funds for their smooth functioning.