Context: Almost half the government schools in the country do not have electricity or playgrounds, according to a report submitted by the parliamentary panel on education.
Key Findings

• The report identifies shortfalls in budgetary funding and utilisation, resulting in critical infrastructure gaps in the government schools in India.
• The budgetary allocations saw a 27% cut from proposals made by the School Education Department. 
• The panel recommended that these core schemes get additional funds at the revised estimates stage but in that also similar 27% reductions for the central and centrally sponsored schemes are seen.

Access to Electricity and Playground

• Almost half of the government schools in the country do not have any electricity or playgrounds.
• Only 56% of schools have electricity, with the lowest rates in Manipur and Madhya Pradesh, where less than 20% have access to power.
• Less than 57% of schools have playgrounds, including less than 30% of schools in Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2017-18 survey.

Overall Infrastructure

• A dismal rate of progress has been observed in building classrooms, labs and libraries to strengthen government higher secondary schools.
• Almost 40% of schools did not have a boundary wall, endangering the safety of students and school property.
• The higher secondary schools experienced greater infrastructural gaps compared to secondary schools and primary schools.
• Also, less than 5% of proposed infrastructure facilities such as ramps and special toilets for differently-abled students have been completed in the government schools.

The panel recommended that:

• The HRD Ministry collaborate with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to construct boundary walls.
• Additional funds for implementation of the core schemes such as Samgra Shiksha Abhiyan.
• The HRD Ministry can also work with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to provide solar energy and other renewable energy sources so that schools have access to power.
• The department should look into the factors impeding the infrastructure development and resolve them at the earliest so as to ensure that the students get the best possible facilities.

Main Objectives of HRD (Human Resource Development) Ministry

• Formulating the National Policy on Education and to ensure that it is implemented in letter and spirit
• Planned development, including expanding access and improving quality of the educational institutions throughout the country, including in regions where people do not have easy access to education.
• Paying special attention to disadvantaged groups like the poor, females and the minorities
• Provide financial help in the form of scholarships, loan subsidy, etc. to deserving students from deprived sections of the society.
• Encouraging international cooperation in the field of education, including working closely with the UNESCO and foreign governments as well as Universities, to enhance the educational opportunities in the country.

About Samagra Shiksha Scheme

• Samagra Shiksha is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12.
• The scheme has been prepared with the broader goal of improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes.
• It subsumes the three Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).

The major objectives of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme are

• Provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students;
• Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education;
• Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education;
• Ensuring minimum standards in schooling provisions;
• Promoting Vocationalisation of education;
• Support States in implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009; and Strengthening and up-gradation of SCERTs/State Institutes of Education and DIET as a nodal agencies for teacher training.

Major Features of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme: Holistic Approach to Education;Administrative Reforms;Enhanced Funding for Education;Focus on Quality of Education;Focus on Digital Education;Strengthening of Schools;Focus on Girl Education;Focus on Inclusion;Focus on Skill Development;Focus on Sports and Physical Education & Focus on regional Balance.