Understanding Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Programs

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is a flagship program launched by the Government of India in 2001 to achieve universal elementary education. It aimed to provide useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6-14 age group by 2010. SSA subsumed several existing programs and introduced new initiatives to improve access, retention, and quality in elementary education.

Examining the Options

Let's look at each option and its relationship with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan:

• Operation Blackboard: This program was launched in 1987 under the National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986. Its focus was on improving school infrastructure by providing minimum essential facilities like classrooms, teachers, and teaching-learning materials. While SSA also deals with infrastructure, Operation Blackboard was a distinct, earlier program, though its goals were aligned with the broader aims of SSA.
• Setting up School Management Committees: School Management Committees (SMCs) were primarily mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The RTE Act came into force after the initial launch of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. While SSA became the vehicle for implementing the RTE Act, including the formation and functioning of SMCs, the mandate for setting up SMCs specifically originates from the RTE Act, 2009, not the original SSA framework launched in 2001.
• District Primary Education Programme (DPEP): Launched in 1994, DPEP was a large-scale program aimed at revitalizing the primary education system through a district-specific approach. It was a major precursor to SSA, and many of its strategies and lessons learned were integrated into the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan framework.
• Lok Jumbish: This was a project initiated in Rajasthan in the early 1990s, focusing on basic education with a strong emphasis on community participation and decentralized planning. Like DPEP, Lok Jumbish was a significant initiative that influenced the development and design of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and its approach was integrated into SSA's functioning.

Identifying the Program Not Directly By SSA

Based on the origins of these programs:

• Operation Blackboard predates SSA.
• DPEP and Lok Jumbish were precursor programs whose approaches were integrated into SSA.
• Setting up School Management Committees is a specific mandate of the RTE Act, 2009, which is separate legislation from the initial launch of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, even though SSA is responsible for implementing the RTE Act.

Therefore, while SSA implements the provisions of the RTE Act, including the establishment of School Management Committees, the program of "Setting up School Management Committees" as a legal mandate is a direct outcome of the RTE Act 2009, not an original program launched by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2001.

Considering the options, Setting up School Management Committees stands out as being directly tied to the RTE Act 2009, rather than being an initiative launched by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan itself or a precursor initiative fully integrated into SSA's initial design.