Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan

- Indian government has launched Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) scheme in March 2009 for improving the quality of secondary education in the country.
- World Bank has come forward to support and provide funds to India's secondary education prograrmne.
- It is worthnoting that the World Bank at present also supports the government's flagship programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which aims at universalisation of elementary education.
- The World Bank has taken interest in RMSA keeping in view the objective of the programme to check the drop-out rate at secondary level completely by 2020.
- The World Bank is supposed provide soft loans for the scheme.
- The RMSA scheme aims to achieve a general emollment target of 75 per cent for classes IX-X within five years by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation.
- Salient Features of RMSA
Centre shall bear 75 per cent of the project expenditure during the 11th five-year plan while states' share will be the remaining 25 per cent.
The sharing pattern will be 50: 50 for the 12th five-year plan.
For both the 11th and 12th fiveyear plans, the funding pattern will be 90: 10f or North Eastern States.
Removal of gender, socio-economic and disability barriers and ensuring universal access to secondary level education by 2017 and universal retention by 2020.