S CHOOL E DUCATION IN

I NDIA

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I: Background
 


 


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 ? ORM O ? OVERNMENT

{ 6onstitutional Democratic Republic

{ Free and fair elections at regular intervals for
6entral and State legislatures and local
bodies
{ 6onstitutionally guaranteed Fundamental
Rights, including Freedom of the Press
{ 6entral and State Governments have
6onstitutionally defined jurisdictions
{ Education, a 6oncurrent responsibility
 S TATES & L AN UA ES

{ dministrative SetupͶ Union of 28 States

and 7 Union
Territories
{ Districts 600
{ Rural Habitations 1.23 million
{ 6onstitutionally
recognised languages 22
 D IVERSITY O? C ANVAS

{ Vast developmental disparities between

States and within States
{ Kerala close to 6hina and Sri Lanka in
developmental indices; Bihar, UP closer
to Nepal and Bhutan
{ In general, southern and western States
better developed
{ Efficient implementation of educational
plans related to status of development
 C HALLEN ES IN E DUCATION

{ ccording to latest estimates, some 3.5 million

elementary school children still not in school
{ Wide disparities in the educational status of different
regions
{ Out of school children are from socially marginalised
groups, especially girls, working children, children of
very poor families, and children in difficult
circumstances
{ Drop out rates at elementary level as high as 51
percent; rising to 62 percent at secondary level
{ 47 percent children in 6lass 5 are unable to read a
6lass 2 text
II: The Policy Framework
 © OLICY ? RAMEWORK

{ 6onstitution of India: Directive Principles

{ National Policy on Education (1986), as revised in
1992
{ 73rd and 74th 6onstitutional mendments (1992)
transferring subjects, including education, to rural and
urban local bodies
{ 86th 6onstitutional mendment (2002) making free
and compulsory elementary education a Fundamental
Right
{ Greater focus on EF, post Jomtien, resulting in higher
allocation of resources
{ EF National Plan of ction drawn up in 2003
III: Judicial and Other
Developments
 T HE ? IRST S I NI?ICANT
J UDICIAL I NTERVENTION

{ uohini Jain vs State of Karnataka, S6, 1992

å Right to education concomitant to Fundamental
Rights

å Every citizen has a right to education under the

6onstitution

å The act of recognition of private institutions in

itself creates an instrument of State that can be
used to deliver the obligations of the State
 T HE S ECOND S I NI?ICANT
J UDICIAL I NTERVENTION

{ J P Unnikrishnan vs State of ndhra

Pradesh, S6 1993
å Reviewed the decisions in uohini Jain vs
State of Karnataka
å Held that the right to education is implicit
and flows from the right to life guaranteed
under rt 21
å Every child has a right to free education until
he completes the age of 14 years; thereafter
his right is circumscribed by the economic
capacity of the State
 T HE 1990 S

{  period of liberalisation and globalisation

{ doption of New Economic Policy

{ Borrowing from IuF and World Bank coupled with a Structural

djustment Programme
å Implicit withdrawal from the social sector, with a greater role for private
entities

{ International compulsions
å EF, Jomtien 1990

å Ratification of UN 6R6, 1992

å Obligation to report on progress from time to time

{ cceptance, for the first time ever, of external assistance in education

for DPEP and others
 C IVIL S OCIETY
O R ANISATIONS

{ Number of very active NGOs around this time

å Pratham
å uV Foundation
å Global 6ampaign for Education (international)
å NFRE

{ Private sector initiatives (6SR related)

{ mbani-Birla Report on Education Reform
å Elementary education must entirely be a State responsibility

{ Other Public Interest Litigations

{ 165th report of the Law 6ommission
IV: Programmes and Initiatives
 I NDIAN A ENCIES IN E DUCATION

{ E66E & Gender Equality ʹ uinistry of

Women &
6hild Development
{ Elementary Education Dept of
School
Education
{ dult Education & Literacy

{ Youth and dolescents ʹ uinistry of Sports

& Youth ffairs
 S CHOOL I NITIATIVES : ECCE

{ uain vehicle Integrated 6hild

Development Services Scheme (I6DS),
covering 54 million children in the 0-6
year age group
{ Provides a mix of 6 services:
supplementary nutrition, immunisation,
health check up, referral services, pre
school education and nutrition and
health education
{ USD 2 billion allocated in Budget 2009-10
 S CHOOL I NITIATIVES : D©E©

{ Preceded by the Bihar Education Project (UNI6EF), Lok

Jumbish (SID), Shiksha Karmi Project (SID), UP Basic
Education Project
{ Launched in 1994 to universalise access and
retention, to improve learning achievements and to
reduce social gaps
{ District-based, with a focus on community
involvement, combined with institutional capacity
improvement
{ t its peak, in 273 districts in 18 States
{ mong other achievements (infrastructure, etc),
succeeded in raising awareness about the importance
of education
 S CHOOL I NITIATIVES : SSA

{ 
  
(SS), national flagship
programme for UEE, launched in 2001
{ 6overs 210 million children, 1 million schools and
nearly 4 million teachers
{ nnual expenditure on the programme
approximately USD 3.5 billion; overall
expenditure on elementary education USD 25
billion
{ 180,000 new school buildings, 700,000 additional
classrooms, 230,000 new toilets and 170,000
drinking water facilities provided so far
 SSA OALS

{ ll children in school by 2005

{ Bridging gender and social gaps:

å Primary 2007

å Elementary 2010

{ Universal retention by 2010

{ Focus on satisfactory quality with emphasis on

education for life
 S CHOOL I NITIATIVES : MDM

{ Launched in 1995 to provide a meal to all

primary school children
{ World͛s largest school feeding
programme, covering 112 million children
in 950,000 schools
{ Has resulted in improving retention,
reducing drop out rates and improving
nutritional status of children
{ 2009-10 budget outlay USD 2 billion
 S CHOOL I NITIATIVES : S ECONDARY
E DUCATION
{ 93 million children estimated to be in the 14-18 year
age group
{ Only 33 million enrolled in secondary institutions
{ Two thirds out of school
{ 6urrent spending on secondary education USD 1
billion per annum
{ u    
, a programme for
universalising access to secondary education
launched in 2008
 © RO RAMMES ?OR IRLS

- Special schemes targeted at girls, apart from focus on

girls in general schemes
- [ 
 
     (KGBV)
- National Programme for the Education of Girls at
the Elementary Level (NPEGEL)
- u    
- Removal of gender (and other) disparities at the primary
levels (I-V) by 2007, and elementary (I-VIII) level by 2010
- 6omprehensive plan for adolescents, especially girls, in
the Tenth Five Year Plan
- ccording to UNES6O͛s Global uonitoring Report 2006,
India achieved gender parity at elementary level in 2005
 Y OUTH AND A DOLESCENTS
- Population ʹ approx 230 million (22.8% of total)
- Development of this group falls under the purview of several
uinistries
- 6omprehensive National Youth Policy adopted in 2003
- Life skill education among adolescents supported by WHO and
UNFP, especially for girls
- pproximately 8 million rural youth covered through | 
 
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(NYKS) for social development, including the Red
Ribbon Express Initiative for HIV IDS awareness
- National Service Scheme also targets youth in colleges and schools
for constructive social programmes
- National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) provides opportunities
of Distance Education to those who are unable to continue with
formal education
 A DULT E DUCATION

- National Literacy uission to provide functional literacy to all

adults
- To achieve sustainable threshold literacy (75%) by 2007
- 597 districts covered under E programmes; 485 under PLP and 328
under 6E
- Recently recast as Saakshar Bharat to focus on adults above 15
years, with a special focus on female literacy
- Vocational education and skill development through 157 Î





- bsolute number of illiterates declined by 25 million between 1991-
2001
- Gender gap reduced from 24.9% in 1991 to 21.6% in 2001
 N EW I NITIATIVES

{ Education 6ess @ 2% imposed on all 6entral taxes to

augment resources for EF
å Estimated yield in 2009-10: US $ 4 billion
å Increased to 3% with effect from 2006 to provide for
secondary education
{ Legislation detailing elementary education as a
Fundamental Right recently notified
{ I6DS universalised to cover all habitations
{ uid-day ueal scheme expanded to cover upper primary
classes
{ Scheme for universal access to secondary education being
launched
V: The Right to Education
 T HE I NDIAN C ONSTITUTION

{ Superior or supreme law of the land, reflecting

the relationship of the State with its citizens
{ Includes Fundamental Rights and Directive
Principles of State Policy
{ Fundamental Rights are enforceable, justiciable
{ Directive Principles non-binding, but meant to
guide the State
{ Together known as the ͞conscience of the
6onstitution͟ (K 6 Wheare, u







)
 W HY A R I HT TO
E DUCATION ?

{ Right to Education linked to a fundamental debate at the

time of writing the 6onstitution
{ Related to governance itself, whether to include
universal adult franchise or not
å Opponents argued that providing a right to vote to all, when
most were illiterate, would negate democracy
{ rt 45 introduced as a compromise
å ͞The State shall á
á to provide, within a period of ten
years from the commencement of this 6onstitution, for free
and compulsory education for all children until they complete
the age of fourteen years͟ î    
å Only Directive Principle with a time frame, indicating that our
leaders were not prepared to give more than ten years to
establish democracy on the bedrock of universal education
 H OWEVER «

{ The time frame of ten years was never respected

{ Government and the bureaucracy concluded that

adequate financial resources were not available

{ Number of illiterates in the country rose from

294.2 million in 1951, to 325.5 million in 1961
 T HE C ONSTITUTION (86 TH
A MENDMENT ) A CT, 2002

{ dds a new Fundamental Right (͞Right to Education͟) by inserting

rticle 21:
͞The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all
children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State
may, by law, determine.͟

{ 6hanges rticle 45 (in the Directive Principles) to:

͞The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care
and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.͟

{ dds the following (eleventh) Fundamental Duty in rticle 51:

(It shall be the duty of every citizen of India͙)
͞(k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for
education to his child or as the case may be, ward between the age of six
and fourteen years.͟
 › ASIC C ONCE©TS

{ ͞6ompulsory Education͟ defined as the

obligation of the State to take all necessary steps
to ensure that every child participates in, and
completes Elementary Education

{ ͞Free Education͟ defined as freedom from

liability to (i) pay any fee to the school, and (ii)
incur such other prescribed expenses as may be
likely to prevent the child from participating in and
completing Elementary Education
 C HILD · S R I HT TO E DUCATION

{ Spelt out as ͞right to free and

compulsory education of equitable
quality͟ ʹ in turn, elaborated as the right
to participate in 
á free and
compulsory elementary education

á

, which fulfils
prescribed norms regarding
infrastructure, staffing,curriculum, etc
{ Suitable provisions for non-enrolled
children to enable them to join age
appropriate grades
 R ES©ONSI›ILITIES O? THE
S TATE

{ Responsibilities at various levels (6entre,

State, local authority) spelt out
{ State to make available a neighbourhood
school, which fulfils prescribed norms, for
every child 

 ááá
{ Regular monitoring and taking all
necessary steps including removal of all
barriers (social, economic, academic,
physical, etc), so that every child
completes Elementary Education
 Thank you

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