[Education] Notes from India Year Book

Before 1976, Education was state subject and Constitutional amendment of 1976 shifted it to concurrent list. It provided central government following responsibilities

• Reinforce the national and integral character of education
• Maintaining quality and standard including those of the teaching profession at all levels, 
• the study and monitoring of the educational requirements of the country.

National Education policy (NPE) 1986 and Program of Action (POA), 1986 as updated in 1992 are most notable policies and programs of government. NPE envisages

• A national system of education to bring about uniformity in education
• Making adult education programs a mass movement
• Providing universal access, retention and quality in elementary education
• Special emphasis on education of girls
• Establishment of pace settign schools like navodaya Vidyalaya in each district
• Vocationalisation of secondary education
• synthesis of knowledge and inter-disciplinary research in higher education
• starting more open universities in the states
• strenghening the AICTE
• Encouraging sports, physical education, Yoga and
• adoption of an effective evaluation method 

SSA Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Goals

1. Enrollment of all children in school, Education guarantee Scheme center or alternative school ( Special educational facilities for Out of school children, that is EGS center is opened for temporary period of 2 years after which a primary school replaces it in those habitations where 25 or more out of school children in 6-14 age group with primary school within 1 km range.)
2. Retention of all children till upper primary stage
3. Bridging gender and social category gap in retention, enrollment and learning
4. Ensuring that there is significant enhancement in the learning achievements at primary and upper primary stage.

SSA was approved 231233 Crore for 2010-11 to 2014-15 that aprox 40000 cr to 49000 cr every year to implement RTE-SSA

National program for education of girls at elementary level NPEGEL
Implemented in Educationally backward blocks to address obstacles to those girl’s education who are enrolled in school but do not attend school regularly.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme
Scheme provided for setting up residential upper primary schools for girls in educationally backward blocks with rural female literacy below the national average as per Census 2001. Minimum 75% seats in these schools are reserved for girls of SC/ST and minorities and 25% for girls from BPL families

Mid Day Meal Scheme

• Covers all children studying in Classes I-VIII in govt, govt aided local body, EGS and AIE centers including Madarasas supported under SSA.
• Addresses hunger and education of majority of children in India
• The Working Group on Elementary Education & Literacy for the 12th Plan has recommended coverage of private unaided schools located in the SC, ST and minority concentration districts, under the MDMS, in a phased manner, during the 12th Plan.
• The Government has provided Rs.11937 crores for the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) scheme in the current year. 

Object of MDM

1. Improve nutritional status of children
2. Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities
3. Providing nutritional support to children of primary stage in drought affected areas during summer vacation.

Right to Education

• 86th Consitutional amendment of 2002, added Article 21A which provided for free and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6-14 years as a Fundamental Right.
• To fulfill 21A, Right of Children to free and compulsory Education Act, 2009 was passed that seeks to provide that every child has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards
• The RTE Act came into force in 2010 and so far 20 states have notified the rules. But the big states such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal have not notified them as yet.
• According to the Act “All private schools shall be required to enrol children from weaker sections and disadvantaged communities in their incoming class to the extent of 25% of their enrolment, by simple random selection. No seats in this quota can be left vacant. These children will be treated on par with all the other children in the school and subsidized by the State at the rate of average per learner costs in the government schools 
• The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been mandated to monitor the implementation of the Act.
• The law gives government a three-year window to ensure that infrastructure and other such provisions to meet the requirements of the law. (ie till 31-03-2013)
• A year long ‘Shiksha Ka Haq Abhiyan‘ campaign has been launched in 2012-13 to increase awareness about the education in the masses especially young children. The day “11 November” will also be celebrated as ‘National Education Day’.

National Institute of Open schooling (NIOS)

NIOS provided access to sustainable and learner-centric quality school education, skill upgrading and training through open and distance learning and ensures convergence of open schooling organisations, resulting in an inclusive learning society, Human resource development, national integration and global understanding. It has aprox 16 lakh learners on roll.

NCERT

• apex resource organization of govt in the field of school education
• It advises and assists the ministry of HRD, and departments of Education in States and UTs in formulation and implementation of their policies and major programs in the field of education, particularly for qualitative improvement of school education.
• It undertakes programs related to research development  training extension,, international cooperation, publication and dissemination of educational information.
• Acts as major agency for implementing the bilateral cultural exchange programs with other countries in the field of school education.

Saakshar Bharat Mission (Earlier known as National Literacy Mission)

• Covers all adults in the age group 15 and beyond.
• Volunteer based mass campaign.
• Lok Shikha Kendra will be set up to coordinate and manage all mission programs within their territorial jurisdiction. 
• Envisages to provide impetus to achieving the goal of a fully literate society engaged in lifelong learning.

Objectives

1. Impart functional literacy and numeracy to non-literate and none-numerate adults
2. Enable the neo-literate adults specially younger adults to continue their leaning beyond basic literacy and acquire equivalency to formal educational system
3. Impart non and neo-literates relevant skill development programs to improve their earning and living conditions.
4. Promote a learning society by providing opporutinities to neo literate adults and other potential learners for continuing learning

Principle target of the mission it to impart functional literacy to 7 Crore adults in the age group of 15 years and beyond. Mission will primarily focus, but not limited to, women.