EDUCATION

             I learned so many things in education model, education is one of the most important things in our life. here i introducing about what is education.

Introduction
Education plays an empowering and a redistributive role by helping people break
intergenerational cycles of poverty, deprivation and exploitation. In the Indian context, it
is an important catalyst of social change since it addresses traditional inequalities related
to caste and gender1. Education poverty in India is closely linked to income poverty and
is marked by a denial of choices, opportunities and rights2. Policy proclamations3 towards
universalising elementary education have remained a dead letter for the past fifty five
years and about half of the country’s population is still illiterate. Today, about forty
million children remain out-of-school4 and the Indian government, until recently, did not
have a binding legal obligation to provide education to all children.
Since the early nineties, the government has been under tremendous pressure to
universalise education. The Indian parliament amended the Constitution of India in 2002
making education for children between 6-14 years a ‘fundamental right’, that is, a
justiciable right that can be enforced in a court of law. This policy shift has been slow and
spread over the past decade. This effort is broadly welcomed and it also corresponds with
the international acceptance of education as a human right. It heralds a new regime
wherein the government is made constitutionally liable to provide education to all
children.
How did this policy change come about and what factors contributed to this shift in
policy? At present, available literature mainly analyses the amendment, and very little is
written about the process by which it evolved. This research project tries to fill in this
gap. Some of the other factors that influenced the choice of this subject area are as
follows. Firstly, the decision to amend the Constitution was largely political but the
process of amendment was characterised by creation of spaces for external influencing
and openness on part of some key policy makers to interact with researchers and grassroot
organisations. This positive opportunity of bringing in evidence based policy is
worthy of study. Secondly, India has a strong base of research in the field of education
and it would be important to examine the impact of this research on influencing the
amendment as well as assess its limitations. Thirdly, policymaking is an ongoing
exercise. It is therefore pertinent to examine the pathways for future evidence based
policy making. This is important for researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders in
India since the process of drafting a central legislation to give effect to the constitutional
amendment is underway. Fourthly, there is a paucity of research on the issues, events and
contributions towards making education a fundamental right in India. This project is
1 See Dreze and Sen (1995) India-Economic Development and Social Opportunity. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
2 See Tilak, J.B.G. (2000) Education Poverty in India. NIEPA Occasional Paper 29. New Delhi: NIEPA.
3 Particularly the erstwhile Article 45 of the Indian Constitution which stated that the State shall endeavour
to provide free and compulsory education to all children below 14 years within ten years of the adoption of
the Indian Constitution.
4 Economic Survey (2002-03: 223) estimates for the year 2000-01.
6
Right to Education and Constitutional Amendment: a Case of India
therefore aimed at throwing light on the role of research in bringing about such a policy
shift and also to serve as a case for future reference.