New Delhi: With an aim to universalize secondary education during the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved a centrally-sponsored scheme called the 'Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)'.

The RMSA aims at achieving a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 75 percent for classes IX-X within 5 years by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation.

It also aims at improving the quality of education imparted at the secondary level through making all secondary schools conform to prescribed norms and to remove gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, universal access to secondary level education by the end of 12th Five Year Plan and Universal retention by 2020.

Broad physical targets of the RMSA include improving the enrolment ratio for classes IX-X to 75 percent within 5 years from 52.26 percent as in 2005-06' providing facilities for estimated additional enrolment of 32.20 lakhs by 2011-12 through; strengthening of about 44,000 existing secondary schools; opening 11,188 new secondary schools; appointment of 1.79 lakh additional teachers and construction of 80,500 additional classrooms.

Interventions approved include providing infrastructure in schools such as new classrooms with furniture, library, science laboratory, computer room, disabled friendly provisions etc, recruitment of additional teachers with emphasis on Science, Mathematics and English teachers, in service training of teachers, teaching aids such as ICT and special focus on SC/ST/Minorities Girls.

Steps such as priority for opening or upgradation of schools in areas of SC/ST/minority/weaker section concentration and enrolment drives and special coaching classes in those areas are also envisaged under the scheme.

The scheme aims at development of State-specific norms. Districts will be the unit of planning. The district plan will be appraised and consolidated at the State level and the State plan will be appraised by the technical support group attached to the National Mission.

The scheme will be implemented in a mission mode, with a national mission headed by the Union Minister for HRD and a Project approval Board headed by Secretary (School Education and Literacy) to appraise and approve state plans. Similarly, State Missions under Chief Ministers of the States/UTs will be set up.

The Union Government will bear 75 pc of the project expenditure during the 11th Five Year Plan, with 25 pc of the cost to be borne by State Governments.

The sharing pattern will be 50:50 for the 12th five year plan. For both the 11th and 12th Plans, funding pattern will be 90:10 for North Eastern States. A sum of Rs.20,120 crores has been allocated for the Scheme during the 11th Five Year Plan.