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and human values, and build a strong character. SSA proposed that the education system must
develop in consonance with contemporary societal needs (Mohanty 2003).
Availability of infrastructure is fundamental in providing access to education. Under the SSA
scheme between 2002-03 and 2008-09 1,48,492 new primary schools and 1,33,277 new upper
primary schools were opened and an additional 8,00,000 classrooms were built, significantly
expanding access to the elementary level. Further, the Mission also motivated increased efforts to
develop, fund and implement specific strategies to reach deprived urban children, particularly in the
35 cities with more than one million inhabitants (Joint Review Mission of SSA 2009).
Right to Education Act (2009)
Right to Education Act or The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act emphasises
the importance of free and compulsory education for children who are in the age group of 6 to 14
years. The Act came into existence on 1
st
April, 2010 and since then India became one of the 135
countries to make education a fundamental right of every child. Further, this Act specifies that all
private schools have to reserve 25% of seats to children of socially disadvantaged groups. It also laid
down that no child shall be held back, expelled or required to pass a board examination until the
completion of elementary education. For school dropouts there is a special training, given under this
Act. Since education is a concurrent issue in the Indian Constitution, the responsibilities of
implementation of this Act have been distributed among centre, state and local governmental bodies.
The central government bears 70 percent of the expenses of the implementation of this Act and 30
percent is provided by state government.
However, the RTE encountered several hurdles in the implementation level. Only a few are
mentioned below. First, this scheme covers children in classes 1 to 8 only. Second, the Act is gender
neutral and does not provide any special provisions for encouraging education of girls. Third, it is also
silent on the right to education for children with disability. Fourth, the Act does not talk of the post-
elementary stage. After completing elementary education in elite schools children from vulnerable
groups will not be able to pursue their education in such schools or colleges. Then they might have to
slip back to schools of questionable standards which will have negative psychological impact on
them. Finally, it is evidently apparent that there are many incidents of corruption by school
managements while implementing the Act.
Besides these centrally sponsored education policies, state governments have also launched many
support schemes such as for example, the Midday Meal Scheme, Bicycle scheme, establishment of
pre and post-matric hostels to enhance access and utilisation of educational opportunities. Almost
every state government has set up committees and commissions to recommend policy changes in the
field of education, to make it more ‘inclusive’, ‘quality conscious’ and ‘attune itself to meet globally