Question

Write the concept and objectives of UEE. Explain the educational importance of SSA program of UEE, in present early childhood Education.

Answer 1

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Elementary education has become a justifiable Fundamental Right. The provisions contained in the Constitution of India, insists on providing elementary education to all children. Educational facilities at the primary education stage have expanded tremendously during the post independence period. This expansion has definitely helped in making primary level education more accessible to a larger section of the population. However the large-scale expansion has resulted in the creation of education facilities with widely varying quality in terms of institutional infrastructure, teaching-learning processes as well as the quality of students passing out of these institutions.

Constitutional, legal and national statements for universalization of elementary education

Constitutional mandate, 1950 - "The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years."

National Policy of Education, 1986 - "It shall be ensured that free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality is provided to all children up to 14 years of age before we enter the twenty first century".

Unnikrishnan Judgement, 1993 - "Every child/citizen of this country has a right to free education until he completes the age of fourteen years."



What is universalisation of elementary education (U.E.E.)?

Universalisation of elementary education has been long accepted as a pre-condition to socio-economic and political development of any society.

Although this has been recognized as a need of an individual, this need has been given an expression of fundamental right in Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Constitution of India does not recognize right to education as a fundamental right but has placed it explicitly in Article 45 under the Directive Principles of the State Policy. This

Article places an obligation on the State to endeavour to provide for free and compulsory education to all Children up to the age of 14 years. The International Instruments which have been ratified by India including the convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explicitly provide for Right to Education up to the elementary level or up to 14 years of age.

The National Policy on education also emphasizes the responsibility of the State in providing educational facilities to all. However, the legal duties on the part of the State are not clearly stated in the Constitution for the domestic status on education. The remedies in case of violation of the right are also not clearly stated in the present legal frame works other than the remedies available under writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the High Court. The present understanding of compulsory education is limited to right to schooling although the term education means much more than just what is offered in the present school system.