Rashtriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan

A new centrally sponsored scheme, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), to enhance access to secondary education and improve its quality was launched in March 2009. The objective of the scheme is to achieve an enrollment ratio of 75% for classes IX-X within 5 years by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation, to improve quality of education imparted at secondary level through making all secondary schools conform to prescribed norms, to remove gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, universal access to secondary level education by 2017, i.e., by the end of 12th Five Year Plan and universal retention by 2020. The Central Government shall bear 75% of the project expenditure during the 11th Five Year Plan, with 25% of the cost to be borne by State Governments. Funding pattern will be 90:10 for North Eastern Sates.

Project proposals from 7 states (Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh) were considered by the Project Approval Board (PAB) on 12.11.2009, and opening of 871 new schools, and in-service training of more than 1.25 lakh teachers inter alia had been approved.