ELEMENTARY

EDUCATION INDIA

2013-14 Our thinking, expectations

After independence the Directive Principles of State Policy

in the Constitution provided that "the State shall endeavour

to provide for free and compulsory education for all children

up to the age of 14 years".

In its education report for 2004, UNESCO ranked India at

105 (out of 127 countries) in its Education for All

Development Index (EDI).

To tackle the problem of high dropout rate and bring in out-

of-school children, the government had to take measures

to make educational opportunity available to all children in

the age range of 6-14 years.

The government tried to make schooling more attractive by

introducing policies like mid-day meals, school adoption

programs (by better off private schools and non-

governmental entities) and inviting private sector

(particularly Information Technology industry) to participate in

such an endeavour.

A public-private partnership has the potential of optimising

existing resources, as the public sector plays the role of

enabler and facilitator, and the private sector contributes its

expertise, technology and management practices.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) was to provide useful

and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6 to

14 age group by 2010.

SSA had two aspects – I) It provided a wide convergent

framework for implementation of Elementary Education

schemes; II) It was also a programme with budget provision

for strengthening vital areas to achieve universalisation of

elementary education.

All investments in the elementary education sector from the

State and the Central Plans was to reflect as part of the

SSA framework.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan took note of the fact that provision

of elementary education was largely made by the

government and government aided schools. There are

also private unaided schools in many parts of the country

that provide elementary education. Poorer households

are not able to afford the fees charged in private schools

in many parts of the country. There are also private

schools that charge relatively modest fees and where

poorer children are also attending. Some of these schools

are marked by poor infrastructure and low paid teachers.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education

Act, or Right to Education Act (RTE), was hailed as a

landmark bill in 2009 when it was passed by parliament

August 4 2009.

The Act dictates that all children between the ages of 6

and 14 are entitled to free and compulsory education.

The Act also states that 25 per cent of admissions in all

private unaided schools will be provided free of cost to

children from underprivileged homes in neighbouring

areas.

Supreme Court upholds R T E Act

On April 12, 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of

the RTE Act and made it clear that its would be implemented

across the country. The court, however, exempted private

unaided minority schools (such as schools run by religious

institutions) from the Act stating that it would “infringe the

fundamental freedom” of such schools.

The Karnataka government, through its Budget, had also

stated that the RTE Act would be implemented from the

academic year 2012-2013.

Quality education is an integral part of access

and must include quality with respect to:

(1)the education process (including quality

curricula and reasonable class sizes);

(2) adequate and safe infrastructure and

learning and teaching resources; and

(3) interventions that mitigate non-school

factors impacting teaching and learning.

A narrow approach to learning can result in the

degrading of other school subjects and essential

skills, values and relations, forcing teachers to

„teach to the test‟.

Numeracy and literacy achievement are important,

but they should be understood as necessary but

not sufficient to developing cognitive capabilities,

including critical and higher order thinking.

Capabilities that foster innovation and build

character are also crucial education outcomes,

including: creativity, curiosity, civic-mindedness,

solidarity, self-discipline, selfconfidence,

compassion, empathy, courage, self-

awareness, resilience, leadership, humility,

peace, and more.

The primary site of assessment should be the

classroom where teachers assess student

learning in order to inform and improve teaching

strategies.

Problems posed by RTE

• Three years after the Right To Education (RTE) came into

force, nearly 20% of government schools were yet to have

professionally competent teachers, according to a study

conducted by the HRD ministry.

• The study for 2012-13 revealed that the percentage of

professionally educated teachers in government schools was

around to 81%, just one per cent up from the previous year.

• The RTE Act, which came into force three years back,

mandates states to have professionally-qualified teachers in all

schools within five years.

The report showed improvement in school infrastructure

during the three year period, with percentage of schools

with girls toilet facility going up to 69% and percentage of

primary schools with single classrooms in government

schools coming down from 40% to 29%.

It is unlikely that gender parity in primary and secondary

education will be achieved by 2015. Thus, particular

attention needs to be paid to gender parity across all

priorities within the global development framework.

M.K. Gandhi:

By education I mean an all-round drawing out of

the best in child and man - body, mind and spirit,

Literacy is only the means where by man and

woman can be educated. Begin the child‟s

education by teaching it in addition to literacy, a

useful handicraft and enabling it to produce. I hold

the highest development of the mind and the soul

is possible under such a system of education.

However, the Right to Education Act is more about

Right to Schooling than the Right to Education. It

focuses heavily on inputs whereas learning

outcomes have not been addressed. It is unlikely

to improve mass education because there is no

focus on quality.”

Arun Kapur, Director Vasant Valley School

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory

Education Act came into force on April 1, 2010.

• It describes the modalities of the provision of free and

compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in

India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution.