Even as Gujarat has started the pre-project activity for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), the Central scheme for universalising access and improvement of quality at the secondary stage of education from Class IX till Class XII, the fate of Class VIII students seems to be caught up in bureaucratic hassles.

For years, the students of Class VIII in the state have been deprived of the benefits of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), as the state’s primary education extends from Class I to VII only. Now, with the stage set for RMSA, the government is still undecided on whether to include Class VIII in SSA or RSMA.

Sanjay Nandan, Commissioner of Schools, Gujarat, said: “We are facing this problem in Gujarat, as Class VIII is not included in SSA and provisions of RSMA are applicable to Classes IX and upwards. So, the status of class VIII is not known as of now. We have taken this issue with the Central government, but nothing has been decided as of now.”

This anomaly relating to class VIII has resulted in under-utilisation of SSA funds by the state government. According to the data provided by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Government of India, of the total available fund of Rs 431.92 crore for the academic year 2007-08, the Gujarat government was able to spend only Rs 280.66 crore — a mere 64.98 per cent.

It is only marginally better than the poorest performer, Jharkhand, with a percentage expenditure of 63.91. On the other hand, states like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Kerala, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir have all clocked above 90 per cent in terms of expenditure, with Andhra Pradesh registering a near perfect 99.62 per cent.

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