The document summarizes the major constitutional provisions related to elementary education in India. It discusses Articles 45, 30, 29(1), 15, 17, 46, 25(1), 28(1), 26(1), 350A, 351, and provisions for women's education. It also outlines the key goals for elementary education established in India's five-year plans from the first to the twelfth plan, which focused on expanding access and infrastructure for primary schools, reducing dropout rates, and improving education quality and learning outcomes.

1. WELCOME

2. TOPIC:-
• Constitutional provisions – Articles related to elementary
education and their implications
• Elementary education in five year plans

4. The major constitutional provisions on education in India
are as follows:
1. Free and Compulsory Education:
The Constitution makes the following provisions under
Article 45 of the Directive Principles of State Policy that,
“The state shall endeavor to provide within a period of ten
years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free
and compulsory Education for all children until they
complete the age of fourteen years.”

5. EDUCATION OF MINORITIES

6. 2. Education of Minorities:
Article 30 of the Indian Constitution relates to certain cultural
and educational rights to establish and administer educational
institutions.
It lays down:
(i) All minorities whether based on religion or language, shall
have the right to establish and administer educational
institutions of their choice.
(ii) The state shall not, in granting aid to educational
institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on
the ground that it is under the management of a minority,
whether based on religion or language.

7. 3. Language Safeguards:
Article 29(1) states “Any section of the citizen, residing in
the territory of India or any part there of having a distinct
language, script or culture of its own, have the right to
conserve the same.”
Article 350 B provides for the appointment of special
officer for linguistic minorities to investigate into all
matters relating to safeguards provided for linguistic
minorities under the Constitution.

8. EDUCATION FOR WEAKER SECTIONS

9. 4. Education for Weaker Sections:
Article 15, 17, 46 safeguard the educational interests of the
weaker sections of the Indian Community, that is, socially and
educationally backward classes of citizens and scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes.
Article 15 states, “Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of Article
29 shall prevent the state from making any special provision for
the advancement of any socially and educationally backward
classes of citizens or for the scheduled castes and the
scheduled tribes.”

10. 5. Secular Education:
India is a secular country. It is a nation where spirituality
based on religion, had always been given a high esteem.
Article 25 (1) of the Constitution guarantees all the citizens
the right to have freedom of conscience and the right to
profess, practice and propagate religion.
Article 28 (1) states, “No religious instruction shall be provided
in any educational institution if wholly maintained out of state
fund.”

11. 6. Equality of Opportunity in Educational
Institutions:
Article 29(1) states “No citizen shall be denied admission
into any educational institution maintained by the State or
receiving aid out of State funds, on grounds only of religion,
race, caste, language or any of them.”

12. 7. Instruction in Mother -Tongue:
Article 26 (1) states, “Any section of the citizens, residing in
the territory of India or any part there of, having a distinct
language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to
converse the same.”
Article 350 A directs, “It shall endeavor of every state and
every local authority to provide adequate facilities for
instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of
education to children belonging to linguistic minority
groups.”

13. 8. Promotion of Hindi:
The Indian Constitution makes provision for the development
and promotion of Hindi as national language. Article 351
enjoins the Union, the duty to promote the spread of the Hindi
language.
9. Higher Education and Research:
Parliament has the exclusive rights to enact legislation in
respect of institutions and Union Agencies mentioned in entries
63, 64, 65, and 66 of List.

14. 10. Women’s Education:
One of the unique features of Modem Indian Education is the
tremendous advancement of Women’s Education.
The Constitution makes the following provisions under
different articles:
Article 15(1) provides that the State shall not discriminate any
citizen on groups only of sex.
Article 15 (3) reads: “Nothing in this article shall prevent the
State from making any special provision for women and
children.”

15. • ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
IN FIVE YEAR PLANS

16. 1st plan (1951 – 56)
To provide educational facilities to atleast 60% of all
children of the school going age within the age group 6-14.
llnd plan (1956- 61)
The emphasis was on linking education with economic
development. It also advocated for expansion of basic and
elementary education.

17. lllrd plan (1961- 66)
The main emphasis was on the provision of facilities for
universal elementary education for all children in the
age group 6- 11 on basic line. Special concentration on
the education of girls and reduce diparities in the level
of development in education of girls and boys.

18. Fourth Five Year Plan:
Incorporating the recommendations of the Education
Commission, the Fourth Five year plan aimed at providing free
and compulsory education up to the age of 14. It was stated that
“Facilities for universal elementary education are pre-requisite
for equality of opportunity.”
The fifth Five Year Plan
laid emphasis on ensuring equality of opportunities as part of
the overall plan of ensuring social justice.

19. The Sixth Five Year Plan (1978-83):
• The sixth five year plan (1980-85) (again launched in 1980)
assigned highest priority to the programme of universalisation
of elementary education.
• It proposed that universalisation of primary education (for the
age group 6-11) would be achieved by the end of the plan
(1985) and universalisation of upper primary level (11-14) by
1990.
• Achieve substantial increase in the enrollment at the upper
primary stage (classes 6-8) of children up to 14 years so as to
move towards the goal as fast as possible.

20. The Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90) envisages
overriding priority to realising universalisation of elementary
education for children in the age-group 6-14 years by 1990;
which will continue to be part of the Minimum Needs
Programme. The emphasis will shift from mere enrollment to
retention of pupils in schools and to the attainment by them of
basic elements of learning. The objective is sought to be
achieved through a combination of formal and non-formal
methods, focusing sharply on the needs of girls and of children
belonging to the economically and socially weaker sections.

21. The Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97):
Universalisation of elementary education, eradication of
illiteracy in the age group of 15 to 35 and strengthening of
vocational education so as to relate it to the emerging needs
in the urban and rural setup. It stated that within the overall
school-age population, the focus would be on girls, who
account for two-thirds of target, and among adults the focus
would be on women's literacy which has a beneficial impact
on children's literacy as well as other national objectives like
population control and family welfare.

22. The Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002):
• Primary education was a major thrust area during the 9th
Plan. It was targeted that additional rooms /buildings will be
constructed at the elementary stage.
• teachers will be appointed additionally at the lower primary
level and 1, 75,000 teachers at the upper primary level.
• Some other states (like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan) had to go a long way.
There were equity concerns like low enrollment of girls,
educational requirements of special need groups, like
SCs/STs, OBCs, minorities, disabled children, working
children, children from disadvantaged locations like
deserts, hilly, coastal and deep forest areas, children from
migratory families etc.

23. The Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007):
It targets in respect to elementary education were: All children
in the 6-14 age groups should have access to primary schools,
upper primary schools or their alternatives within a walking
distance of one Km and three Kms. respectively. All schools
should have buildings, toilets, drinking water, electricity,
playgrounds, blackboards and other basic facilities. There must
be provision of one classroom for every teacher at the
elementary stage. Dropout rate to be reduced to less than 10
percent for grades VI-VIII by 2007. Improve the quality of
education in all respects (content and process) to ensure
reasonable learning outcomes at the elementary level,
especially in literacy, numeracy and in life skills. Bridge all
gender and social gaps in enrollment, retention and learning
achievement in the primary stage by 2007.

24. The Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007–11):
Reduce dropout rates of children from elementary school
from 52.2% in 2003-04 to 20% by 2011-12, Develop
minimum standards of educational attainment in elementary
school, and by regular testing monitor effectiveness of
education to ensure quality, increase literacy rate for persons
of age 7 years or above to 85%, lower gender gap in literacy
to 10 percentage point, increase the percentage of each
cohort going to higher education from the present 10% to
15% by the end of the plan.

25. TWELTH FIVE YEAR PLAN (2012- 2017):
Isolated habitations, educationally backward blocks and
districts, reaching out to out of school children and children
with special needs and street children shall require special
attention. Innovative ways would have to be found to address
resource constraints in implementing RTE.
Integration of pre-school education into schooling especially in
the government schools. Funding for pre-school children
under ECCE,
Strengthening of monitoring and evaluation mechanism
including social audit for SSA and MDM scheme with web-
based monitoring for transparency and periodic and sustained
third party evaluation.

26. THANK YOU