What is education?

• Broader & general sense – means through which habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next

• Narrow & technical sense - education is the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another, e.g., instruction in schools

EDUCATION IN INDIA

• Provided by Public and private sector• Funds – federal, state and local• With the establishment of British Raj in India –

Western education• Nalanda University – old institution

STILL A DREAM FOR SOME…

• Why???

Child labor Bihar, MP, AP, UP Illiteracy

UDHR• Article 26

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the

elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

CONSTI. PROVISIONS IN INDIA

• Directive Principle - article 45 – ‘provision for free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of fourteen years within ten years of promulgation of the Constitution’.

• Fundamental duty – article 51A(k) - who is a parent or guardian should provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.

CONSTI. PROVISIONS IN INDIA

• Fundamental right –

article 21A - right to

education. (86th

amendment act,

2002)

JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS• Mohini Jain Vs State of KarnatakaIssue Raised – Is there a 'right to education'

guaranteed to the people of India under the Constitution?

Court Held – Art. 41 & 45 (DPSP)Now, FR – Art. 21A (86th amendment, 2002)• Ashoka kumar thakur Vs Union of IndiaCourt Held – Without art 21A, all other

fundamental rights are meaningless.

• RTE heralded as Means to End Child Labour in India• The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

(NCPCR), ILO, UNICEF, UNESCO and the corporate sector - WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR

All these factors contributed and

finally gave birth to the new Act –

RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPULSORY

EDUCATION, 2009

Education a Fundamental Right : IndiaDIRECTIVE

PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY

Supreme Court (1992) : Right to Education inherent in ‘Right to Life’ and

‘Right to Equality’

Article 21A (2002): “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the ageOf six to fourteen years in such manner as the

State may determine, by law.”

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009

21A and RTE Act enforced w.e.f. 1st April, 2010

Right to Education means:

• (a) Every child/ citizen of this country has a right to free education until he/she completes the age of fourteen years and

• (b) After a child / citizen completes 14 years, his/her right to education is circumscribed by the limits of the economic capacity of the State and its development

Right of ChildrenFree and Compulsory admission, attendance,

Completion of Elementary Education

Removal of

Financial barrier

Compulsion on GovernmentDuty of Parents

Special provision for childrenwith disabilities

No ExpulsionNo detention

Bars corporal punishmentMental harassment

Special provisionfor Out-of-School children

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS Sec. 2 (d) “Child belonging to disadvantaged

group”

2 (e) “Child belonging to weaker section”

2 (f) “Elementary Education”

2 (h) “Local Authority”

2 (n) “School - 4 categories of schools”

SCHEMES LAUNCHED

• Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti to provide good quality modern education to the

talented children predominantly from the rural areas, without regard to their family's socio-economic condition.

SCHEMES LAUNCHED• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India's

flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right.

RTE – MAJOR HICCUPS

• Excessively govt centric• Antagonistic towards private initiative• Lack of accountability and transparency• Lack of clarity in financing• Alternative educational methods – American

model, Kendriya Vidyalaya model.• Lack of public debate• Disconnect btwn society and law