The Union Cabinet has approved the creation of a nonlapsable pool for secondary and higher education known as Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh. All proceeds from the ‘Secondary and Higher Education Cess’ will be credited to this pool. The Cess is an additional cess of 1% levied on central taxes. It will be managed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The pool will be primarily used for the following purposes: 1. Secondary education: schemes including: (i) Rashtriya Madhyamik Shlksha Abhiyan Scheme; (ii) National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme; and (iii) National Scheme for Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education.
2. Higher education: schemes including: (i) interest subsidy and contribution for guarantee funds; (ii) Rashtriya Uchchtar Shiksha Abhiyaan; and (iii) the National Mission on Teachers and Training.
