Dr. Veeresh Hanchinal

Maha is 17 on edu index, behind Gujarat, Kerala

Sandeep Ashar TNN

Mumbai: The state is steadily losing its ground on education. It has slipped four points to the 17th position in the Centre’s education development index.
    The Union government carries out the annual ranking exercise based on various aspects influencing the quality, outreach, infrastructure and performance of students. The latest findings are based on surveys across the country in 2010-11. Maharashtra ranked 13th following a similar exercise in 2009-10.It witnessed a decline in ranking in both the primary (class I to IV), and upper primary (class V to VIII)categories. In the primary section, it dropped one rank from 14 in 2009-10 to 15 in 2010-11. The decline is starker in the upper primary section, where it slipped from 13(2009-10)to18(2010-11).
    During a state cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the school education,higher and technical education departments were severely criticized by several ministers, following which chief minister Prithviraj Chavan ordered appointment of a core group comprising senior experts and education experts to oversee and chart an improvement in the state’s education standards.Chavan also directed both the school education and higher and technical education departments to give a presentation on the existing education standards to the cabinet.
    Congress minister Narayan Rane raised the issue during a discussion on non-salary grants for schools, questioning the lack of quality of education in schools. The District Information System for Education report was then cited by the administration.
    While Puducherry and Lakshwadeep retained the top two slots in the latest rankings, Punjab was third. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala were all ranked aheadof Maharashtra. Govt grants for primary schools Despite objections from the state finance department, the cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to provide non-salary grants to primary and upper primary schools from April 2013. It will benefit over 20,000 schools. The grants, discontinued in 2004, were for libraries, laboratories, toilets, etc and cost the state over Rs 330 crore annually. TNN