In recent past, India has made a huge progress in terms of increasing primary education enrolment, retention, regular attendance rate and expanding literacy to approximately two thirds of the population. India’s improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to the economic development of India. At the same time, the quality of elementary education in India has also been a major concern. India made a Constitutional commitment to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 nearly sixty years ago.
But, the goal of Universalization of Elementary education (UEE), which means 100 percent enrolment and retention of children with schooling facilities in all habitations, has been very difficult to achieve till now. It is to fill this gap that the Government had launched the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of 1994, and in 2001 the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” or SSA, one of the largest such programmes in the world. In this era of information technology, ICT is playing commendable role to bridge the gap between haves and have nots in the education system, particularly in rural India. In order to effectively decentralize the management, it has involved Panchayati Raj institutions, School Management Committees, Village and Urban Slum Level Education Committees, Parents’ Teachers’ Associations, Mother Teacher Associations, Tribal Autonomous Councils and other grassroots level structures.
It has introduced innovative ways of universalizing elementary education in India. In order to improve the quality of elementary education in India, the SSA has emphasized on improving the student teacher ratio, teachers training, academic support, facilitating development of teaching learning material and providing textbooks to children from special focus groups etc. Three factors seem to be making a distinct difference in the growth trajectory of elementary education in the country. The first factor is the increased direct involvement of the central government in strengthening infrastructure and delivery of elementary education. Coupled with this enhanced initiative from the central government is the adoption of the district level as the base for planning development inputs for elementary education, and the concurrent move to decentralize governance by empowering local self-governance mechanisms through panchayati raj (local self-government) institutions. The third factor that has begun to significantly reshape the elementary education scene in India in recent years is the massive social mobilization drive. This has been encouraged over the last 10-15 years within the elementary education sector, under the auspices of the National Literacy Mission. This has resulted in increased demand for elementary education, on the one hand, whilst substantially enhancing the role of non-state actors in the provision of elementary education and support services in the country, on the other. Yet despite all the efforts of the government of India, universalization of elementary education in India remains a distant dream.
This is because of the persistent poverty and various prejudices prevailing in the Indian society. It is important that access and equity go together in order to make UEE a reality. While the growth in female literacy is increasing at a faster rate than male literacy, the gap in the male female literacy has been a major hindrance in the universalization of elementary education in India.A similar problem of inequity in coverage and participation can be observed with respect to different social groups, traditionally identified as under-privileged. Another component is that section of children who have Special Learning Needs. Special measures are needed for such children ranging from appropriate school infrastructure to special training for teachers, and provision of suitable learning material, aids and appliances.
Mere availability of schools does not ensure children’s participation. It is recognized that teacher and teacher-related factors seriously affect students’ participation in schools at various levels. Teachers who have inadequate qualifications and training and perhaps do not display a sympathetic and sensitive attitude towards students’ needs and differences are likely to impact on students’ experiences in class, making them vulnerable to drop out and / or low achievement. Thus all the above mentioned factors affect the scene of elementary education in Indiawho is attempting to achieve the goal set by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and also the Millennium Development goal by 2015 set by the UNESCO.
