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It is a fact that out of the 300 million children in India, a lot lives in an economic and social environment which could impede the child's physical and mental development. It is the need of the hour that we all gear up to meet the needs of these children in India today, to enable us to see an enlightened and empowered India tomorrow. In India, the post-independence era has experienced an explicit expression of the commitment of the government to the cause of children through constitutional provisions, policies, programmes and legislation. In the last decade of this century, dramatic technological developments particularly in the areas of health, nutrition, education and related spheres have opened up new vistas of opportunities for the cause of children. The Government, Non Government Organization (NGOs) and others have all come together for the cause, primarily focusing on the unique problems concerning the children in India. They include issues related to children and work, tackling the problem of child labour, elimination of discrimination towards Girl Child, uplifting street children, indentifying the special needs of children with disabilities, and providing education to every child as its Fundamental Right.
Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free, and compulsory primary education of good quality. Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs. Achieve a 50 % improvement in adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults. Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality. Improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure the excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.
Although the gender gap in education (MDG 3) is narrowing, girls are still at a disadvantage when it comes to access and completion of both primary and secondary school. Despite recent gains in girls enrollment at both the primary and secondary levelsparticularly in low-income countries in SubSaharan Africa and South Asia24 countries are unlikely to achieve gender parity at either the primary or at secondary level by 2015. The majority of these countries (13) are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poor learning outcomes and low-quality education also remain overriding concerns in the education sector. For example, in many developing countries, less than 60 percent of primary school pupils who enroll in first grade reach the last grade of schooling. Additionally, pupil/teacher ratios in many countries exceed 40:1 and many primary teachers lack adequate qualifications.
The Finance Commission has provided Rs 25,000 crore to the states for implementation of the Act. As per the government's estimate, there will be a requirement of Rs 1.71 lakh crore in the next five years for implementation of the Act. Sibal said that the government has arranged the required funds for implementing the law. The Act says no school can deny admission to a student and all schools need to have trained teachers. In case of schools not having trained teachers, they will have to comply with the provision within three years. As per the new law, the schools need to have certain minimum facilities like adequate teachers, playground and infrastructure. The government will evolve some mechanism to help marginalised schools comply with the provisions of the Act. The critical lack of financing calls for partners to explore innovative financing approaches for education which can act as an important supplement to, and catalyst for, more efficient use of scarce resources keeping in view the need for Universalisation of Elementary Education, there has been expansion at Primary and Upper Primary School stage of education, in the Government sector, especially in rural areas as well as backward areas. The hard-won gains in education will not be preserved without improving resources for vulnerable populations n india.