India Education For All

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IndiaEducation For All

• Overview of Progress and Challenges

E-9 Ministerial Meeting 8-10, November 2012 New
Delhi, India
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Overview

• Diverse contexts and conditions consists of 35
  States and Union Territories
• About 1.3 million schools of which 87 are in
  rural areas
• Involves around 190 million children and 6
  million teachers at the elementary stage of
  education
• Demographic changes increasing youth population
  shrinking cohort of children entering primary
  schools

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Overview of ProgressUniversal Primary Education
and Literacy

• Access Universal access to all within the
  neihbourhood
• Primary Enrolment Ratios Near Universal at 97
• Primary Completion rate around 70 - cause for
  concern
• Literacy 81 - on track for achieving 2015 goal

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Overview of ProgressTowards Gender Equality

• Significant reduction in gender disparity but
  needs improvement
• Ratio of boys to girls in education near parity
  in primary level - but still at around 0.87
  overall and Gender parity index in literacy is
  around 0.84 youth literacy is near parity
• One of the major focus areas being pursued
  special programmatic thrusts

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Overview of ProgressMajor Programmatic
Initiatives

• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Programme for
  Universalisation of Elementary Education
• Universal provision of Mid-Day Meals in schools
• Integrated Child Development Programme covering
  all children of 0-6 years
• Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan Programme
  for Universalisation of Secondary Education
• Sakshar Bharat National Literacy Programme with
  special focus on Youth and women

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Right to EducationEducation as a Fundamental
Right

• Landmark event
• Amendment to Constitution in 2002
• Right To Education Act notified in April 2010
• Making Free and Compulsory Education a basic
  Right - Looking to ensure that all children not
  only have access to education but access to
  education of good quality

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Right to Education ActSome Key Provisions

• Rights and Entitlements of children
• Ensuring Participation of Children in Schools
  Responsibility of the State
• Specifies Teacher qualifications, Pupil Teacher
  Ratio
• Benchmark for Schools - Specification of
  infrastructure and academic provisions
• Nature of Curriculum Teaching Learning Process
  Child Centred National Values
• Independent Bodies at Central and State levels
  for Monitoring the Protection of Child Rights
  National Commission for Protection of Child
  Rights

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Right to Education ActSome Key Provisions

• Focus on Equity and Social Justice
• Special Provisions made for marginalised groups
  - Scheduled Caste children, tribal groups,
  children with special needs
• New Framework for Participation of Private
  providers - 25 reservation for children from
  disadvantaged groups
• Child friendly classrooms
• Ban on corporal punishment and classroom free of
  fear and anxiety
• Calls for education through mother tongue
  (Without making it compulsory)

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Continuing Challenges

• Retaining children in Schools to complete
  elementary with particular focus on girls and the
  disadvantaged Around 40 children aged 6-14
  years drop out without completing 8 years of
  schooling
• Strategy (a) Special Training to mainstream out
  of school children and drop outs age
  appropriate classes (b) Programmes for girls
  including residential schools (c) Mid-day Meals
  for all (d) Draw support from NGOs

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Continuing Challenges

• Problem of Qualified Teachers - Around one
  million additional teachers to be recruited and
  trained to meet RTE norms.
• Strategy (a) Teacher Eligibility Tests to
  improve quality (b) Additional Teacher Training
  Institutions in Educationally Backward Blocks
  (c) Use of Modern Technology and open learning
  systems for professional development of
  Practicing Teachers

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Continuing Challenges

• Enhancing Learning Outcomes Independent
  assessments as well as Surveys by NCERT show that
  majority of children completing 5 yrs of
  schooling lack basic competencies
• Strategy - Special programme of Quality
  Enhancement (a) Curriculum and Textbooks Reform
  (National Curriculum Framework) (b) Reforming
  classroom teaching Ability Based Learning (c)
  Revamping Learner Evaluation Continuous and
  Comprehensive Evaluation

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Continuing Challenges

• Out-of-school Adolescents and Young Adults
  Large number still fail to complete schooling and
  enter the world of work
• Strategy (a) Special Programmes of life skills
  for Adolescents and Youth through National
  Literacy Mission (b) Expansion of open schooling
  network to reach the unreached (c) Assessing and
  certifying skills acquired through non-formal
  education under the National Vocational Education
  Qualification Framework (NVEQF)

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Towards A brighter future for Indias children