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Unit 5
Right to education
● The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the
Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age
group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the State may,
by law, determine.
● The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which
represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every
child has a right to full-time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in
a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.
● Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010. The title of the RTE Act
incorporates the words ‘free and compulsory’. ‘Free education’ means that no child,
other than a child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school which is not
supported by the appropriate Government, shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or
charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing
elementary education.
● ‘Compulsory education’ casts an obligation on the appropriate Government and local
authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary
education by all children in the 6-14 age group. With this, India has moved forward to a
rights based framework that casts a legal obligation on the Central and State
Governments to implement this fundamental child right as enshrined in the Article 21A
of the Constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the RTE Act.
The RTE Act provides for the:
● Right of children to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary
education in a neighbourhood school.
● It clarifies that ‘compulsory education’ means obligation of the appropriate government
to provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and
completion of elementary education to every child in the six to fourteen age group.
‘Free’ means that no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses
which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education.
● It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age-appropriate class.
● It specifies the duties and responsibilities of appropriate Governments, local authority,
and parents in providing free and compulsory education, and sharing of financial and
other responsibilities between the Central and State Governments.
● It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs),
buildings and infrastructure, school-working days, teacher-working hours.
● It provides for rational deployment of teachers by ensuring that the specified
pupil-teacher ratio is maintained for each school, rather than just as an average for the
State or District or Block, thus ensuring that there is no urban-rural imbalance in teacher
postings. It also provides for prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-educational
work, other than decennial census, elections to the local authority, state legislatures and
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parliament, and disaster relief. It provides for the appointment of appropriately trained
teachers, i.e. teachers with the requisite entry and academic qualifications.
● It prohibits (a) physical punishment and mental harassment; (b) screening procedures for
admission of children; (c) capitation fee; (d) private tuition by teachers and (e) running of
schools without recognition,
● It provides for the development of curriculum in consonance with the values enshrined
in the Constitution, and which would ensure the all-round development of the child,
building on the child’s knowledge, potentiality, and talent and making the child free of
fear, trauma, and anxiety through a system of child-friendly and child-centered learning.
Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan
The Union Budget, 2018-19, has proposed to treat school education holistically without
segmentation from pre-nursery to Class 12.
Samagra Shiksha - an overarching program for the school education sector extending from
pre-school to class 12 has been, therefore, prepared with the broader goal of improving
school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable
learning outcomes. It subsumes the three erstwhile Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
(SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).
This sector-wide development program/scheme would also help harmonize the
implementation mechanisms and transaction costs at all levels, particularly in using state,
district, and sub-district-level systems and resources, besides envisaging one comprehensive
strategic plan for the development of school education at the district level. The shift in the
focus is from project objectives to improving systems-level performance and schooling
outcomes which will be the emphasis of the combined Scheme along-with incentivizing
States towards improving quality of education
The Goal SDG-4.1 states that “By 2030, ensure that all boys and girls complete free,
equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective
learning outcomes.
Further the SDG 4.5 states that “By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and
ensure equal access to all levels of Education and vocational training for the vulnerable,
including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations”
The scheme envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary,
secondary to Senior Secondary levels. The vision of the Scheme is to ensure inclusive and
equitable quality education from pre-school to senior secondary stage in accordance with
the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education.
The major objectives of the Scheme are provision of quality education and enhancing
learning outcomes of students; Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education;
Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education; Ensuring minimum standards
in schooling provisions; Promoting Vocationalisation of education; Support States in
implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009; and
Strengthening and up-gradation of SCERTs/State Institutes of Education and DIET as a nodal
agencies for teacher training.
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The main outcomes of the Scheme are envisaged as Universal Access, Equity and Quality,
promoting Vocationalisation of Education and strengthening of Teacher Education
Institutions (TEIs).
The Scheme will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme by the Department
through a single State Implementation Society (SIS) at the State/UT level. At the National
level, there would be a Governing Council headed by Minister of Human Resource
Development and a Project Approval Board (PAB) headed by Secretary, Department of
School Education and Literacy. The Governing Council will be empowered to modify
financial and programmatic norms and approve the detailed guidelines for implementation
within the overall Framework of the scheme. Such modifications will include innovations
and interventions to improve the quality of school education. The Department will be
assisted by a Technical Support Group (TSG) at Educational Consultants of India Limited
(EdCIL) to provide technical support in functional areas pertaining to access, equity and
quality education by merging the TSGs of the Schemes of SSA, RMSA and TE. States would
be expected to bring a single Plan for the entire school education sector.
The fund sharing pattern for the scheme between Centre and States is at present in the
ratio of 90:10 for the 8 North-Eastern States viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and 3 Himalayan States viz. Jammu &
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and 60:40 for all other States and Union
Territories with Legislature. It is 100% centrally sponsored for Union Territories without
Legislature. This is in accordance with the recommendations of the Sub-Group of Chief
Ministers on Rationalization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes received in October, 2015.
The major interventions, across all levels of school education, proposed under the scheme
are: (i) Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Gender
and Equity; (iii) Inclusive Education; (iv) Quality; (v) Financial support for Teacher Salary; (vi)
Digital Initiatives; (vii) RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks etc.;(viii) Pre-school
Education; (ix) Vocational Education; (x) Sports and Physical Education; (xi) Strengthening of
Teacher Education and Training; (xii) Monitoring; (xiii) Programme Management; and (xiii)
National Component. It is proposed that preference in the interventions would be given to
Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), LWEs affected districts, Special Focus Districts (SFDs),
Border areas and the 117 Aspirational districts.
The main emphasis of the Scheme is on improving quality of school education by focussing
on the two T’s – Teacher and Technology. The strategy for all interventions under the
Scheme would be to enhance the Learning Outcomes at all levels of schooling. The scheme
proposes to give flexibility to the States and UTs to plan and prioritize their interventions
within the scheme norms and the overall resource envelope available to them. Funds are
proposed to be allocated based on an objective criteria based on enrolment of students,
committed liabilities, learning outcomes and various performance indicators.
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The Scheme will help improve the transition rates across the various levels of school
education and aid in promoting universal access to children to complete school education.
The integration of Teacher Education would facilitate effective convergence and linkages
between different support structures in school education through interventions such as a
unified training calendar, innovations in pedagogy, mentoring and monitoring, etc. This
single scheme will enable the SCERT to become the nodal agency for conduct and
monitoring of all in-service training programmes to make it need-focused and dynamic. It
would also enable reaping the benefits of technology and widening the access of good
quality education across all States and UTs and across all sections of the Society.\
Features
o Holistic approach to education
o Treat school education holistically as a continuum from Pre-school to Class 12
o Inclusion of senior secondary levels and pre-school levels in support for School
education for the first time
o Administrative reform
o Single and unified administrative structure leading to harmonized implementation
o Flexibility to States to prioritise their interventions under the Scheme
o An integrated administration looking at ‘school’ as a continuum
o Focus on Quality of Education
o Enhanced focus on improving quality of education by focus on the two T’s – Teachers
and Technology
o Enhanced Capacity Building of Teachers and School Heads
o Focus on strengthening Teacher Education Institutions like SCERTs and DIETs to
improve the quality of prospective teachers in the system
o SCERT to be the nodal institution for in-service and pre-service teacher training – will
make training dynamic and need-based.
o Support for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan to promote Science and Maths learning in
schools.
o Support Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat Programme to develop foundational skills at
primary level.
o Provision of library grants for every school ranging from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 20000.
o Focus on Digital Education
o Support ‘Operation Digital Board’ in all secondary schools over a period of 5 years,
which will revolutionize education- easy to understand, technology based learning
classrooms will become flipped classrooms.
o Enhanced use of digital technology in education through smart classrooms, digital
boards and DTH channels
o Digital initiatives like UDISE+, Shagun, to be strengthened
o Strengthening of ICT infrastructure in schools from upper primary to higher
secondary level.
o Strengthening of Schools
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o Enhanced Transport facility to children across all classes from I to VIII for universal
access to school
o Composite school grant increased from Rs. 14,500-50,000 to Rs. 25,000- 1 Lakh and
to be allocated on the basis of school enrolment.
o Specific provision for Swachhta activities – support ‘Swachh Vidyalaya’
o Improve the Quality of Infrastructure in Government Schools
o Focus on Girl Education
o Upgradation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) from Class 6-8 to Class
6-12.
o Self-defence training for girls from upper primary to senior secondary stage
o Enhanced Commitment to ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’
o Focus on Inclusion
o Allocation for uniforms under RTE Act enhanced from Rs. 400 to Rs. 600 per child per
annum.
o Allocation for textbooks under the RTE Act, enhanced from Rs. 150/250 to Rs.
250/400 per child per annum. Energized textbooks to be introduced.
o Allocation for Children with Special Needs (CwSN) increased from Rs. 3000 to Rs.
3500 per child per annum. Stipend of Rs. 200 per month for Girls with Special Needs
from Classes 1 to 12.
o Focus on Skill Development
o Exposure to Vocational Skills at Upper Primary Level would be extended.
o Vocational education for Class 9-12 as integrated with the curriculum and to be made
more practical and industry oriented.
o Reinforce emphasis on ‘Kaushal Vikas’
o Focus on Sports and Physical Education
o Sports Education to be an integral part of curriculum
o Every school will receive sports equipments at the cost of Rs. 5000 for Primary
Schools, Rs. 10,000 for upper primary schools and up to Rs. 25,000 for secondary and
senior secondary schools to inculcate and emphasize relevance of sports.
o Focus on Regional Balance
o Promote Balanced Educational Development
o Preference to Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), LWE affected districts, Special
Focus Districts (SFDs), Border areas and the 117 aspirational districts identified by Niti
Aayog
Mid-Day Meal Scheme
o To enhance enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve
nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to
Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th
August 1995.
o In 2001 MDMS became a cooked Mid Day Meal Scheme under which every child in every
Government and Government aided primary school was to be served a prepared Mid
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Day Meal with a minimum content of 300 calories of energy and 8-12 gram protein per
day for a minimum of 200 days.
o The Scheme was further extended in 2002 to cover not only children studying in
Government, Government aided and local body schools, but also children studying in
Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) centers.
o In September 2004 the Scheme was revised to provide for Central Assistance for Cooking
cost to cover the cost of pulses, vegetables cooking oil, condiments, fuel and wages and
remuneration payable to personnel or amount payable to the agency responsible for
cooking.
o Transport subsidy was also raised from the earlier maximum of Rs 50 per quintal to Rs.
100 per quintal for special category states and Rs 75 per quintal for other states.
o Central assistance was provided for the first time for management, monitoring and
evaluation of the scheme @ 2% of the cost of foodgrains, transport subsidy, and cooking
assistance.
o A provision for serving mid-day meals during summer vacation in drought-affected areas
was also made.
o In July 2006 the Scheme was further revised to enhance the cooking cost to Rs 1.80 per
child/school day for States in the North Eastern Region and Rs 1.50 per child / school day
for other States and UTs. The nutritional norm was revised to 450 Calories and 12 gram
of protein. In order to facilitate construction of kitchen-cum-store and procurement of
kitchen devices in schools provision for Central assistance @ Rs. 60,000 per unit and @
Rs. 5,000 per school in phased manner were made.
o In October 2007, the Scheme was extended to cover children of upper primary classes
(i.e. class VI to VIII) studying in 3,479 Educationally Backwards Blocks (EBBs) and the
name of the Scheme was changed from ‘National Programme of Nutritional Support to
Primary Education’ to ‘National Programme of Mid Day Meal in Schools’. The nutritional
norm for upper primary stage was fixed at 700 Calories and 20 grams of protein. The
Scheme was extended to all areas across the country from 1.4.2008.
o The Scheme was further revised in April 2008 to extend the scheme to recognized as well
as unrecognized Madarsas / Maqtabs supported under SSA .
National Achievement Survey
o (NAS) has been conducted to increase focus on learning outcomes in quality of
elementary education
o In order to increase focus on quality of elementary education, the Central rules to The
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) Act, 2009 have been
amended on 20th February, 2017 to include reference on class-wise, subject-wise
Learning Outcomes.
o The Learning Outcomes for each class in Languages (Hindi, English and Urdu),
Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science up to the elementary
stage (classes 1 to 8) have, accordingly, been finalized and shared with all States and UTs.
o Learning outcomes have been translated in different languages and serve as a
benchmark for student’s capabilities to be achieved in each subject & class.
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o To assess the learning levels of the students in Classes 3, 5 and 8 National Council of
Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducted the National Achievement Survey
(NAS) on 13th February, 2017 in which approximately 22 lakh children across the
country participated.
o NAS at the elementary level was based on the Learning Outcomes developed by the
NCERT. The design and implementation of the survey included in its ambit the school
leaders, teachers and the whole network of officials at the Cluster, Block, District
Institute of Education and Training (DIET), State Council of Educational Research and
Training (SCERT) and the Directorates of Education in the different States/ UTs.
o NCERT similarly conducted NAS for class 10 on February 05, 2018. The survey tools used
multiple test booklets in Mathematics, Modern Indian Language, English, Sciences and
Social Sciences. The attainment of the learning levels of nearly 15 lakh students was
assessed. District report cards (provisional) for NAS 2018 for class X have been released
and are available on MHRD website.
Right to food
o The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament
of India which aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of
India's 1.2 billion people
o Food security- availability, accessibility, affordability
o Role of cooperative
o Food security in India
o Salient features-
● Up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population will be covered
under TPDS, with uniform entitlement of 5 kg per person per month. However, since
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households constitute poorest of the poor, and are
presently entitled to 35 kg per household per month
● Foodgrains under TPDS will be made available at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for
rice, wheat and coarse grains for a period of three years from the date of
commencement of the Act. Thereafter prices will be suitably linked to Minimum Support
Price (MSP).
● Within the coverage under TPDS determined for each State, the work of identification of
eligible households is to be done by States/UTs.
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Right to work
● The right to work means that people have a human right to work or engage in productive
employment and may not be prevented from doing so.
● The right to work is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and
recognized in international human rights law through its inclusion in the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, where the right to work emphasizes
economic, social and cultural development.
● The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the two of which were acceded by India, in Article 23 and
Article 6 separately, perceive the right to work in employment of one's own choice and
the State's obligation to protect this right.
● Article 41of the Constitution provides that "the State shall within the limits of its
economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to
work, to education and public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness
and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want."( article 6 of the ICESCR)
● Article 38 states that the state shall strive to promote the welfare of the people
● article 43 states it shall endeavor to secure a living wage and a decent standard of life to
all workers.
● It is urged that the State cannot deny at least the minimum pay in the pay scales of
regularly employed workmen even though the Government may not be compelled to
extend all the benefits enjoyed by regularly recruited employees.
● The Government cannot take advantage of its dominant position, and compel any
worker to work even as a casual labourer on starvation wages.
● it must include protection of the health and strength of workers, men, and women, and
of the tender age of children against abuse, opportunities and facilities for children to
develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity, educational
facilities, just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.
● These are the minimum requirements which must exist to enable a person to live with
human dignity and no State has the right to take any action which will deprive a person
of the enjoyment of these essentials.
T.N. Seshan: The Proponent of Election Reforms
in India
T. N. Seshan popularly known as the face of election reforms in India; died from cardiac arrest on
10 November 2019. He was born on 15 December 1932 in Palakkad, Madras Presidency, British
India (now in Kerala, India). T. N. Seshan was the 10th Chief Election Commission of India from 12
December 1990 – 11 December 1996.
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HEMANT SINGH
CREATED ON: NOV 11, 2019 10:49 IST
MODIFIED ON: NOV 11, 2019 10:51 IST
T.N. Seshan
Full Name: Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan
Date and Place of Birth: 15 December 1932, Kerala
Death: 10 November, 2019
Education: Graduation in Physics from the Madras Christian College & master's degree in public
administration from Harvard University in 1968.
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Profession: Indian Administrative Service (1955 batch), 18th Cabinet Secretary of India (March
1989–December 1989)
Best known for: Election Reforms in India (12 December 1990 – 11 December 1996)
Awards: Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service in 1996.
About the T. N. Seshan;
T. N. Seshan is known as the father of electoral reforms in India. He took the oath as the 10th Chief
Election Commissioner on 12 December 1990 and served till 11 December 1996. He had seen 5
Prime Minister of India during his tenure.
This was the time when the Election Commission was known to a few people and the biggest
festival of democracy i.e. Election was under the shadow of big politicians but the entry of T. N.
Seshan compelled everybody to accept that Election Commission is a constitutional body and it
has some powers too.
He proposed many election reforms in India. To warn the political parties he gave the slogan
of "Nobody dared to violate the law."
What are the Benefits of Electronic Voting Machines in Elections?
This slogan was not praised by many political parties and everybody stand against him later on
this situation became like "Seshan versus Nation".
But later on the election reforms taken place in the country and the country experienced many new
reforms in the way of election process.
Major Election Reforms started by the T.N.Seshan were;
1. Introduction of Voter IDs for all eligible voters.
2. Strict actions for implementation Election Code of Conduct
3. Set expenditure limit for candidates in the elections
4. Prohibition of distribution of liquor/money during elections.
5. Prohibited bribing or intimidating voters.
6. Use of official machinery for campaigning. But unfortunately this practice is still prevalent.
7. Implementation of the law in election process.
8. Autonomous status to Election Commission of India.
9. Prohibition of use of loudspeakers and high volume music without prior written permission.
10. Prohibited candidates from demanding votes on the basis of caste or communal feelings.
11. Prohibition of use of religious place for election campaigns.
It would not be hyperbole if I say that the legendary bureaucrat Mr. T.N. Seshan was the father of
electoral reforms in India. He imitated many crucial reforms to clean the Indian politics but
unfortunately due to the unwillingness of the political parties the Indian politics is still dominated
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by the rich peoples and now the Indian politics became the symbol of 3Ms; Money, Muscles and
Mind.
