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School Education in India Centre For Civil Society

School Education in India Centre For Civil Society. 28 th May, 2010. I: Background. INDIA Some Basic Facts. 3.2 million sq kms 1.03 billion (16% of world’s population). 64.8 percent Male : 75.03 Female : 53.07. Area : Population (2001) : Literacy (2001) : .

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School Education in India Centre For Civil Society

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  1. School Education in IndiaCentre For Civil Society 28th May, 2010

  2. I: Background

  3. INDIA Some Basic Facts • 3.2 million sq kms • 1.03 billion (16% of world’s population). • 64.8 percent • Male : 75.03 • Female : 53.07 • Area : • Population (2001) : • Literacy (2001) :

  4. Form Of Government • Constitutional Democratic Republic • Free and fair elections at regular intervals for Central and State legislatures and local bodies • Constitutionally guaranteed Fundamental Rights, including Freedom of the Press • Central and State Governments have Constitutionally defined jurisdictions • Education, a Concurrent responsibility

  5. States & Languages • Administrative Setup— Union of 28 States and 7 Union Territories • Districts 600 • Rural Habitations 1.23 million • Constitutionally recognised languages 22

  6. Diversity of Canvas • Vast developmental disparities between States and within States • Kerala close to China 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

  7. Challenges in Education • According 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 Class 5 are unable to read a Class 2 text

  8. II: The Policy Framework

  9. Policy Framework • Constitution of India: Directive Principles • National Policy on Education (1986), as revised in 1992 • 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments (1992) transferring subjects, including education, to rural and urban local bodies • 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002) making free and compulsory elementary education a Fundamental Right • Greater focus on EFA, post Jomtien, resulting in higher allocation of resources • EFA National Plan of Action drawn up in 2003

  10. III: Judicial and Other Developments

  11. The First Significant Judicial Intervention • Mohini Jain vs State of Karnataka, SC, 1992 • Right to education concomitant to Fundamental Rights • Every citizen has a right to education under the Constitution • 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

  12. The Second Significant Judicial Intervention • J P Unnikrishnan vs State of Andhra Pradesh, SC 1993 • Reviewed the decisions in Mohini Jain vs State of Karnataka • Held that the right to education is implicit and flows from the right to life guaranteed under Art 21 • 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

  13. The 1990s • A period of liberalisation and globalisation • Adoption of New Economic Policy • Borrowing from IMF and World Bank coupled with a Structural Adjustment Programme • Implicit withdrawal from the social sector, with a greater role for private entities • International compulsions • EFA, Jomtien 1990 • Ratification of UN CRC, 1992 • Obligation to report on progress from time to time • Acceptance, for the first time ever, of external assistance in education for DPEP and others

  14. Civil Society Organisations • Number of very active NGOs around this time • Pratham • MV Foundation • Global Campaign for Education (international) • NAFRE • Private sector initiatives (CSR related) • Ambani-Birla Report on Education Reform • Elementary education must entirely be a State responsibility • Other Public Interest Litigations • 165th report of the Law Commission

  15. IV: Programmes and Initiatives

  16. Indian Agencies in Education • ECCE & Gender Equality – Ministry of Women & Child Development • Elementary Education Dept of School Education • Adult Education & Literacy • Youth and Adolescents – Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs

  17. School Initiatives: ECCE • Main vehicle Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS), 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

  18. School Initiatives: DPEP • Preceded by the Bihar Education Project (UNICEF), Lok Jumbish (SIDA), Shiksha Karmi Project (SIDA), 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 • At its peak, in 273 districts in 18 States • Among other achievements (infrastructure, etc), succeeded in raising awareness about the importance of education

  19. School Initiatives: SSA • SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA), national flagship programme for UEE, launched in 2001 • Covers 210 million children, 1 million schools and nearly 4 million teachers • Annual 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

  20. SSA Goals • All children in school by 2005 • Bridging gender and social gaps: • Primary 2007 • Elementary 2010 • Universal retention by 2010 • Focus on satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life

  21. School Initiatives: MDM • Launched in 1995 to provide a meal to all primary school children • World’s 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

  22. School Initiatives: Secondary Education • 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 • Current spending on secondary education USD 1 billion per annum • Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, aprogramme for universalising access to secondary education launched in 2008

  23. Programmes for Girls • Special schemes targeted at girls, apart from focus on girls in general schemes • Kasturba Gandhi Ballika Vidyalaya (KGBV) • National Programme for the Education of Girls at the Elementary Level (NPEGEL) • Mahila Samakhya • Removal of gender (and other) disparities at the primary levels (I-V) by 2007, and elementary (I-VIII) level by 2010 • Comprehensive plan for adolescents, especially girls, in the Tenth Five Year Plan • According to UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report 2006, India achieved gender parity at elementary level in 2005

  24. Youth and Adolescents • Population – approx 230 million (22.8% of total) • Development of this group falls under the purview of several Ministries • Comprehensive National Youth Policy adopted in 2003 • Life skill education among adolescents supported by WHO and UNFPA, especially for girls • Approximately 8 million rural youth covered through Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) for social development, including the Red Ribbon Express Initiative for HIV/AIDS 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

  25. Adult Education • National Literacy Mission to provide functional literacy to all adults • To achieve sustainable threshold literacy (75%) by 2007 • 597 districts covered under AE programmes; 485 under PLP and 328 under CE • 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 Jan ShikshanSansthans • Absolute number of illiterates declined by 25 million between 1991-2001 • Gender gap reduced from 24.9% in 1991 to 21.6% in 2001

  26. New Initiatives • Education Cess @ 2% imposed on all Central taxes to augment resources for EFA • Estimated yield in 2009-10: US $ 4 billion • Increased to 3% with effect from 2006 to provide for secondary education • Legislation detailing elementary education as a Fundamental Right recently notified • ICDS universalised to cover all habitations • Mid-day Meal scheme expanded to cover upper primary classes • Scheme for universal access to secondary education being launched

  27. V: The Right to Education

  28. The Indian Constitution • 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 Constitution” (K C Wheare, Modern Constitutions)

  29. Why A Right To Education? • Right to Education linked to a fundamental debate at the time of writing the Constitution • Related to governance itself, whether to include universal adult franchise or not • Opponents argued that providing a right to vote to all, when most were illiterate, would negate democracy • Art 45 introduced as a compromise • “The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years” (emphasis added) • 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

  30. However… • 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

  31. The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 • Adds a new Fundamental Right (“Right to Education”) by inserting Article 21A: “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.” • Changes Article 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.” • Adds the following (eleventh) Fundamental Duty in Article 51A: (It shall be the duty of every citizen of India…) “(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.”

  32. Basic Concepts • “Compulsory Education” defined as the obligation of the State to take all necessary steps to ensure that every child participates in, and completes Elementary Education • “Free Education” 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

  33. Child’s Right To Education • Spelt out as “right to free and compulsory education of equitable quality” – in turn, elaborated as the right to participate in full-time free and compulsory elementary education in a neighbourhood school, which fulfils prescribed norms regarding infrastructure, staffing,curriculum, etc • Suitable provisions for non-enrolled children to enable them to join age appropriate grades

  34. Responsibilities of the State • Responsibilities at various levels (Centre, State, local authority) spelt out • State to make available a neighbourhood school, which fulfils prescribed norms, for every child within three years • Regular monitoring and taking all necessary steps including removal of all barriers (social, economic, academic, physical, etc), so that every child completes Elementary Education

  35. Thank you Questions/comments: amit.kaushik@pratham.org

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