“The Right to Education (RTE) Act is being implemented with effect from April 1, 2010 through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).  For 2012-13, I have provided Rs 25,555 crore for RTE-SSA. This is an increase of 21.7 per cent over 2011-12,” Finance Minister said while presenting the General Budget in Parliament here on Friday.

School education sector was one of the major benefactors of the Union Budget, as allocation for the vertical was raised by 18 per cent for implementation of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Right to Education Act through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Rs 45,969 crore was allocated to the Department of School Education and Literacy of the Human Resource Development ministry. Last year, the figure stood at Rs 38,957 crore.
“The Right to Education (RTE) Act is being implemented with effect from April 1, 2010 through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).  For 2012-13, I have provided Rs 25,555 crore for RTE-SSA. This is an increase of 21.7 per cent over 2011-12,” Finance Minister said while presenting the General Budget in Parliament here on Friday.

Allocation for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan was raised by 29 per cent, as the Finance Minister earmarked Rs 3,124 crore for its implementation. At Rs 15,458 crore, allocation for higher education sector witnessed a 15 per cent boost. In the last budget, Rs 13,463 crore was allocated to the sector. “A scheme for education loans is being implemented by banks. To ensure better flow of credit to deserving students, I propose to set up a Credit Guarantee Fund for this purpose,” the Finance Minister said. However, the hike did not match the demands of the Human resources Development ministry which had asked Rs 85,000 crore for school education and Rs 25,000 crore for the higher education sector.