“Online education has made learning accessible in India , yet rural students face poor Internet connectivity, lack of suitable devices , high data costs, electricity shortages, and limited digital skills. Addressing these barriers is essential for inclusive education under NEP 2020.”
This study examines how parental involvement, teacher engagement, sociodemographic disadvantage, and students’ learning difficulties interact to perpetuate educational exclusion. It highlights the interconnected institutional and relational factors underlying disengagement, absenteeism, and eventual school dropout.
This study examines the divergence between budgetary allocations and actual expenditures in India’s education sector from 2019 to 2025. It identifies administrative delays and sub-national fiscal disparities, emphasizing strategic financial planning and rigorous monitoring to optimize fund utilization.
This study examines post-NEP 2020 funding for AI and smart-school infrastructure across seven Indian states, comparing budget priorities, expenditure patterns, and functional infrastructure to assess whether financial commitments translate into effective digital implementation and improved technological capacity in government schools.
This study examines India’s school education budget execution during 2018–19 to 2023–24, analysing Budget Estimates, Revised Estimates, and Actual Expenditure. Findings reveal persistent expenditure gaps, variations across regions and states, and changing utilisation patterns over time.
Authors: Riddhika Bohra, Dhanishtha Meena ABSTRACT This study evaluates the Indian school education system by analyzing the persistent execution gap between allocated Budget Estimates (BE) and Actual Expenditures (AE) using official Ministry of Education data from FY 2016–17 to FY 2020–21, the study tracks quantitative budget-expenditure gaps across Central, State/UT, and school levels. It complements this with a multi-source diagnostic analysis across five thematic case studies. Despite national policy targets to spend 6% of GDP on public education, persistent fund under-utilization severely weakens school infrastructure, teacher capacity, and student retention across the country. Keywords: Budget-Expenditure Gap, Indian School Education, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Fiscal Federalism, Fund Utilization. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of Study Education was assigned to the State List at the time of Independence, which meant state governments carried the primary responsibility for running schools, while the central government’s role remained largely advisory. The first few Five-Year Plans focused on industry and infrastructure, so education was not a fiscal priority in this period; public spending stayed close to 3.5% of GDP (PRS Legislative Research, 2022) for decades. This shifted after the Kothari Commission (1964-66) recommended raising education spending to 6% of GDP, a target later formalized in the National Policy on Education, 1968. That target remains unmet over fifty years later. This historical context establishes the foundation of this study: a persistent gap between policy commitments and actual funding, which predates the contemporary data analyzed herein. The year 1991 serves as a significant dividing line in this history. India’s economic liberalisation coincided with a broader shift toward administrative decentralisation, raising critical questions in policy debates about whether education’s share of a rapidly growing economy was keeping pace. Empirical research on this period remains divided. A panel study of Indian states from 2002 to 2020 indicates that fiscal decentralisation reforms had a broadly positive effect on education and health service delivery, although outcomes depended heavily on local institutional quality and accountability (Singh, Bhattacharjee, & Nandy, 2024). Conversely, researchers examining school-level decentralisation present less optimistic findings. One recent study tracing the effects of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments on school management found mixed, and in some cases negative, effects on student achievement (Kameshwara, Shields, & Sandoval-Hernandez, 2023). Concurrently, the central government began playing a larger role through centrally sponsored schemes that required states to co-finance programmes; this shift highlights how education’s placement on the Concurrent List directly contributes to contemporary budget-expenditure mismatches. Two indicators are utilized in this study to track this gap, chosen to capture different dimensions of the issue. Education expenditure as a share of GDP—which rose only slightly from about 3.8% in 2013-14 to 4.64% in 2020-21 (PRS Legislative Research, 2022), remaining well short of the 6% goal—measures whether education is being prioritised relative to the size of the economy over time. The second indicator, the variance between Budget Estimates (BE) and Actual Expenditure in a given year, captures implementation-level rather than policy-level shortfalls by measuring whether allocated funds are successfully deployed. Together, these two measures distinguish the issue of whether India allocates sufficient funds for education from the issue of whether it effectively spends those allocations. Furthermore, this execution gap varies significantly across the different stages of school education. Elementary education has generally received the strongest policy attention, supported by the legal mandate of the Right to Education Act, 2009. In contrast, secondary education faces greater challenges; enrollment ratios decline noticeably at this stage, and several centrally sponsored schemes designed to support it have repeatedly underspent their allocations (PRS Legislative Research, 2025). Higher secondary education exhibits even more severe disparities, marked by sharp enrollment declines and comparatively little budgetary focus. This historical pattern is corroborated by earlier state-level budget analyses, which demonstrate that elementary education is consistently prioritized over secondary education across most states (CBGA-CRY, 2016, 2018, as cited in Kundu & Rastogi, 2020). Given the distinct fiscal challenges at each stage, this study analyses elementary, secondary, and higher secondary education as separate analytical categories rather than a uniform system. 1.2. Statement of Problem Despite constitutional provisions and recurring national policy targets aiming to devote 6% of GDP to public education, India’s public educational spending remains persistently low, hovering well below this threshold. However, the key challenge facing the Indian school education system is not merely the initial quantum of funds announced in annual budgets, but the systematic and recurring divergence between what is allocated (Budget Estimates) and what is actually spent on the ground (Actual Expenditure). This expenditure shortfall manifests across all administrative levels, driven by multi-layered bureaucratic red tape, delayed fund flows leading to a “year-end expenditure rush” and rigid matching-grant requirements between the Centre and States. Furthermore, public expenditure is severely skewed toward fixed revenue expenses such as teacher salaries, effectively crowding out essential capital investments in school infrastructure. Because this execution gap varies significantly across school tiers (elementary versus secondary) and regional economic boundaries, there is a critical need to evaluate how these fiscal mismatches occur and identify the structural, operational, and institutional factors causing allocated funds to lapse. 1.3. Research Questions What are the trends of gap in education expenditure in the Indian school education system? What do the trends of gap in education expenditure look like for three levels in Indian Schools? What are the factors driving differences between actual and budgeted education expenditure? 1.4. Aim of Study The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the Indian school education system through a comprehensive analysis of the gap between allocated budget estimates and actual expenditures. Specifically, the research seeks to analyze the longitudinal trends in education expenditure gaps at the macroeconomic level across Central, State, and combined governmental tiers. Furthermore, it aims to examine how these budgetary mismatches manifest across the distinct stages of school education—specifically comparing elementary and secondary levels. Ultimately, the study intends to conduct diagnostic qualitative and case-study evaluations to identify the systemic, operational, and institutional factors driving the divergence between budgeted and actual education spending. 1.5. Objectives of Study To analyze the trend of gap
This study examines how India’s fiscal federalism shapes school education budgets across states, revealing a stark North-South divide. While national allocations rose 56.5% between 2018-2024, only 92.26% of funds get utilized nationally — with southern states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka spending far more efficiently (94.71%) than northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (91.19%), proving that bigger budgets alone don’t fix educational infrastructure gaps.
Education in conflict zones is often disrupted by violence,displacement, and insecurity, depriving children of safe learning environments.This loss deepens existing inequalities and hinders long term recovery.Yet, education remains a crcial pathway to hope, resilience,and peace.
Skill education is the cornerstone of achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047. As India aspires to become a developed nation, empowering its youth with industry-relevant skills is crucial. Skill-based education bridges the gap between academic learning and practical application, fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and employability. By nurturing a workforce that is adaptable, future-ready, and globally competitive, India can drive sustainable economic growth and social progress. Investments in vocational training, digital literacy, and upskilling initiatives will unlock the nation’s demographic dividend, ensuring inclusive development. A skilled India is not just a vision—it’s the engine that will power Viksit Bharat into reality.
Ayush Burnwal, Zaheen Qureshi, Sanjula D, Pankhudi Jha Introduction Education has been recognized as a human right across the world under numerous conventions, declarations and laws. The universal declaration of human rights guarantees everyone the right to education under article 26. In the Indian context, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act highlights the importance of education for children between the age of 6 to 14 years in India. This right is guaranteed to every citizen under article 21A of the Indian Constitution. Government intervention helps ensure that all children, regardless of their socioeconomic background, have access to education. This is crucial for reducing societal inequities. Education can be considered as an investment in the future of a nation. Well educated citizens will be productive members of a nation and will contribute to its stability and growth. Besides, the government of India is actively working towards ensuring that every citizen receives education to support their own needs and wants. To achieve the goal of full literacy, the government has been introducing a number of policies and programmes every year. One such programme which has been successful throughout the years is Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) which is the Government of India’s flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education in a time bound manner, as mandated by the 86th amendment to the indian constitution making free and compulsory Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right. It aims to address the problems faced during the initial phase of a child’s education, which is, elementary schooling, where children begin to develop their cognitive and social skills. SSA focuses on providing quality elementary education while bridging regional gaps in literacy by partnering with state governments throughout the country. To address the nutritional needs of children, the government of Tamil Nadu introduced the mid-day meal scheme, which was soon implemented across the nation. By providing meals, this scheme increased the enrollment rates as hunger no longer served as a barrier to education. Furthermore, the Indian government introduced Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya or KGBV which reduced gender disparities in education. Setting up residential schools with boarding facilities has been of assistance in encouraging girls from disadvantaged sections to get educated. All the above-mentioned policies are a few among many policies being introduced by the Indian government to make education accessible to every child in the country. Research Methodology 1. Research Design This study employs a descriptive and evaluative research design to assess the effectiveness of the Education system and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) based on public perception. The study does not focus on quantitative indicators such as enrollment rates or dropout rates but rather evaluates stakeholders’ opinions regarding SSA’s implementation and impact. A mixed-method approach was used, integrating quantitative survey responses with qualitative insights from personal interviews and discussions. The data was refined using a double-random selection process to enhance accuracy and reliability. 2. Data Collection The research relies on primary data collection, gathered through random selection of participants across various states using both online and personal investigations. 2.1. Primary Data Collection: (a) Online Surveys: A structured questionnaire was designed to collect responses from students, teachers, school administrators, and parents about their opinions on SSA’s effectiveness. The survey included questions on: Accessibility and inclusivity of education under SSA Perceived improvements in school infrastructure and facilities Quality of teaching and teacher training programs Challenges faced in policy implementation Overall satisfaction and suggestions for improvement (b) Personal Interviews & Field Surveys: In-person discussions and interviews were conducted to gain deeper qualitative insights into the challenges and successes of SSA and the education system. Respondents were encouraged to share their personal experiences with the policy’s impact. 2.2 Data Selection Process After the initial data collection, a random selection technique was applied at two levels: First Selection: An initial 100 responses were collected from various states. Final Selection: To eliminate potential biases and data inconsistencies, a computer-based random selection process was used to filter and refine the dataset. A final 30 responses were selected for analysis to ensure a more accurate and representative understanding of public opinion. 2.3 Secondary Data Collection Although the study primarily focuses on primary data, secondary sources such as government policy documents and past research reports were reviewed to understand the context of SSA’s implementation. 3. Data Analysis The collected data were subjected to general analysis to assess stakeholders’ opinions about SSA’s effectiveness. 4. Study Limitations Limited Sample Size: The final selection of 30 responses may not fully capture national trends. Subjectivity of Opinions: The study relies on personal perceptions, which may not always align with actual policy outcomes. Regional Variations: Since responses were collected from different states, regional disparities in SSA’s effectiveness may not be fully accounted for. 5. Policy Implications and Future Scope The findings provide a people-centric assessment of SSA’s impact, offering valuable feedback for policymakers. The study highlights key strengths and challenges in policy implementation, which can inform future education reforms. By employing random selection at multiple stages, this methodology ensures objectivity and reliability in evaluating public opinion on SSA. Findings and Insights The study analyses the real-world impact of the government policies aimed at the education sector, specifically focusing on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The dataset encompasses educational qualifications, general awareness, and personal experiences with the education system. The objective is to analyse the effectiveness of policy implementations and assess the level of awareness of the education policies across different demographic groups. There were 100 responses, and a sample of 31 was randomly selected, taken in an online and physical interview format, of individuals from diverse backgrounds. Mainly, the data comes from Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. By gender distribution, 74% were female and 26% were male. The majority were graduates (48%), while others had completed higher secondary. 1/2 of the individuals were between the 20-40 age group. Among state-specific schemes, Kanyashree Prakalpa, Sabooj Saathi, Prakalpa, Mid-Day Meal Scheme were most well known in West Bengal and Gaon ki Beti yojana was