New Delhi: A cess would be proposed on all Central taxes to finance universalisation of basic education and steps would be taken to de-saffronise the school syllabus, President A P J Abdul Kalam announced today (June 7, 2004).

Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, he said the Government would aim at increasing public spending on education so as to reach six per cent of the GDP with half the amount earmarked for primary and secondary education.

A National Commission on Education would be set up to allocate resources and monitor programmes, the President said, adding high priority would be accorded to education as India's greatest resource was its people.

Amid charges that the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition had stuffed institutes of higher learning with those having leanings towards saffron ideology, Kalam said academic excellence and professional competence would be the sole criteria for all appointments in institutes like UGC, ICHR, ICSSR and NCERT.

"Steps will be taken to remove the communalisation of the school syllabus that has taken place in recent years," he said.