Education to remain most favoured sector: PM

Prime Minister says the outlay on education will be up from 7.68 per cent of the Central Gross Budgetary Support in the 10th Plan to over 19 per cent in the 11th Plan.

Observing that education is the "most favoured sector", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the outlay on education will be up from 7.68 per cent of the Central Gross Budgetary Support in the 10th Plan to over 19 per cent in the 11th Plan.

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In fact, education is the most favoured sector and the three fold increase in its share and a five fold increase in the actual outlays demonstrate the criticality of this sector in ensuring sustained inclusive growth in the future," he told the National Development Council (NDC) meeting to approve the XIth Five Year plan.

Singh said the country needed a greatly expanded supply of educated and skilled labour to support ambitious growth targets.

Education is also our best hope for achieving inclusiveness and for spreading development to backward regions and marginalized groups," he said adding nothing would ensure an effective spread of opportunity to all sections of the population more than the availability of good quality education especially in rural areas.

While strengthening the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a new scheme for universalising secondary education was proposed, he said.