The constitutional provision of education and social justice

1. Dr.C.Thanavathi
M.A.(His.), M.Phil. (His.), B.A. (Eng.), M.Ed., M.Phil. (Edn.)
DGT., DCA, SET (Edn.), CTE, PGDHE, Ph.D. (Edn.), Ph.D. (His.)
Assistant Professor of History,
V.O.C. College of Education, Thoothukudi – 628008.
9629256771
thanavathic@thanavathi-edu.in, http://thanavathi-edu.in/index.html
Contemporary India and Education
Unit I
Education in Contemporary India,
Constitutional Context

2. Aims and Purposes of Education
Drawn from Constitutional Provision
• Indian Constitution is one of the largest Constitutions
in the world which comprises of 412 Articles and 12
Schedules.
• The Preamble of the Constitution outlines the social
philosophy and cultural ethos which should oversee
all our educational institutions.
• Right to Education (RTE) is one of the fundamental
rights enshrined in the Constitution of India.
• The table below enumerates the educational aims
derived from the constitution articles pertaining to
education.

3. Provisions Article Aims
1.
Right of free and compulsory
education
45
To make education a right and to provide free and
compulsory education to all the children at
appropriate age.
2. Right to education 21A To provide free and compulsory education
3. Education for women 15(1) (3) To provide education without any discrimination
4.
Promotion of education and
economic interests of SC, ST
and other weaker sections
46
To provide equal opportunity of education to all the
members of the society.
5. Religious education
25,
28(1)(2)(3)
To provide religious education.
6.
Education of minorities,
protection of interests of
minorities
29
To bring equality among the members of the
society by providing them the same platform of
learning, educating them and hence growing and
contributing to the productivity of the nation.
Aims

4. Provisions Article Aims
7.
Right of minorities to establish and
administer educational institutions
30
To provide stability and security to the members
of the society.
8.
Instruction in mother-tongue at the
primary stage
350-A
To provide education to the children in their
mother tongue so that they can construct
understanding in their own language and learn
easily
9. Promotion of Hindi 351
To offer opportunities to the stakeholders to work
in the development and promotion of the Hindi
language.
10. Education in union territories 239 To provide education related to union territories
11.
Fundamental duty to provide the
opportunity for education
51(A) to provide the opportunity for education
12.
It provides special provision with
respect to educational grants for the
benefit of Anglo-Indian community
337
To provide equal opportunity of education to all
the members of the society.

5. Purposes
• Free and compulsory education
Provision of early childhood care and
education to children below the age of
six years:
a) Article 45: The state shall endeavour to
provide early childhood care and
education for all children until they
complete the age of six years.

6. Purposes
• Right to Education
a) Article 21A- The state shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age
6 to 14 years in such manner as state may, by
law determine (86th amendments, Act 2002).
b) 93rd Amendment (Primary Education a
Fundamental Right)- Now by 93rd amendment
of the constitution the primary education has
made a 'Fundamental Right'. It has become a
legal right.

7. Purposes
• Education for women
a) Article 15- This article is regarding no
discrimination against any citizen on grounds of
sex, religion, race, place of birth.
b) Article 15 (3) of the constitution empower
the state to make any special provision for
women and this include their education also.
c) Article 15(1) provides that, the state shall not
discriminate against any citizen on grounds of
sex, religion, race, place of birth.

8. Purposes
• Promotion of Education and Economic
Interest of SC, ST and Other Weaker Sections
a) Article 46 - It lays down, "The state shall
promote with special care the educational and
economic interests of the weaker sections of
the people and in particular, of the schedule
castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall
protect them from social injustice and all forms
of exploitation". It is one of the directive
principles of state policy.

9. Purposes
• Provision for Religious Education
a) Article 25- Right to Propagate Religion Article 25(1) of the constitution guarantees
all the citizens a right of freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice
and propagate religion.
b) Article 28 Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction Article 28 relate to
'Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain
educational institutions'. This article has three clauses.
c) Article 28(1): states, no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational
institution wholly maintained out of state funds."
d) Article 28(2): states "Nothing in clause (1) shall apply to an educational institution
which is administered by the state but has been established under any
endowment or trust which requires that religious instruction shall be imparted in
such institution."
e) Article 28(3): lays down "No person attending any educational institution
recognised by the state or receiving aid out of state funds shall be required to
take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or
to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution or in
any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such person is a minor, his
guardian has given a consent there to".

10. Purposes
• Protection of interests of minorities Article 29-
Article 29 relates the protection of interest of
minorities it lay down
(a) "Any section of the citizen residing in the
territory of India or any part thereof having a
distinct language, script or culture of its own
shall have the right to conserve the same.
(b) "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".

11. Purposes
• Right of minorities to establish and administer
educational institutions Article 30 It relates to
'Right of minorities to establish and administer
educational institutions.
(a) "All minorities whether based on religion or
language shall have right to establish and
administer educational institutions of their
choice".
(b) "The states shall not discriminate against any
educational institution in respect of grant in-
aid, on the ground that it is under the
management of a minority whether based on
religion or language".

12. Purposes
• Instruction in mother-tongue at the primary stage
Article 350-A
a) Article 350-A relates to facilities for instruction in
mother-tongue at the primary stage. It lay down as, "It
shall be the endeavor of every state and of every local
authority with the state to provide adequate facilities
for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary
stage of education to children belonging to linguistic
minority groups; and the president may issue such
directions to any state as he considers necessary or
proper for receiving the provision of such facilities.
b) Article 350-B: provides for the appointment of a
special officer for linguistic minorities with the object of
investigating into the matter relating to safeguards
provided for linguistic minorities under the constitution.

13. Purposes
• Promotion of Hindi Article-351
Article 351 is related to promotion of Hindi.
The constitution also provides for the
development and propagation of national
languages, Hindi.
According to article 351, it is the special
responsibility of the centre to develop the national
language i.e. Hindi so that it may serve as a
medium of expression for all the elements of the
composite culture of India. For this there is a
directorate of Hindi in the Central Ministry of
Home Affairs.

14. Purposes
• Education in the Union Territories Article-239
Article 239 of the constitution states," Save as
otherwise provided by Parliament by how,
every Union Territory shall be administered by
the President acting to such extent as he thinks
fit, through an administrator to be appointed
by him with such designation as he may
specify." This means that every union territory
has its own education department and the
responsibility of education in union territory
has been under union or centre government.

15. Purposes
• Fundamental duties to provide opportunity
for education Article 51A Clause 'K' It shall be
the duty of every citizen of India who is
parent or guardian to provide opportunities
for education to his child or as the case may
be, wards between the age of six and
fourteen years.
• It provides special provision with respect to
educational grants for the benefit of Anglo-
Indian community- Article 337. To provide
equal opportunity of education to all the
members of the society.

16. Education as a means of social
justice in the Indian Constitution

17. Social Justice - Concept
• Social justice means maintaining justice to the society.
• It simple means equality in society, socially just society or enjoys equal
benefits in the society.
• Social justice means equality in society, however, many social and
educational disadvantages have not enjoyed their rights and not getting
benefits under the ordinary law.
• Justice has not infringed giving a special provision to the weaker section of
the community.
• It rather encourages a special provision to enjoy the social benefits.
• In Indian society, some weaker section like minorities and backward
classes are neither equally enjoying their rights, nor are they treated
equally.
• They need to be given a special status to uplift themselves so as to enjoy
their rights in the society.
• So, empowering the weaker section of the community is one of the most
important ingredients of social justice.

18. Social Justice - Definition
• Andrew Haywood define that: “Social justice thus stands for a morally
defensible distribution of benefits or rewards in society, evaluated in
terms of wages, profits, housing, medical care welfare benefits and so
forth”.
• John Rawls’ principles of social justice are “they provide a way of
assigning rights and duties in the basic institutions of society and they
define the appropriate distribution of the benefits and burdens of social
cooperation”.
While formal definitions for social justice vary in wording, there
are commonalities among them.
• Equal rights
• Equal opportunity
• Equal treatment
With these core values in mind, we can define the phrase as such:
Social justice means equal rights, opportunity and treatment for all.

19. Constitutional Provisions Relevant to Social Justice and
Empowerment of Vulnerable Sections
• The Indian constitution has mentioned the word
‘Social Justice’ only in three places.
• In Part IX of the constitution, (The Panchayats) article
243 G (a) & (b) and Part IXA (The Municipalities)
article 243W (i), the Indian constitution has expected
the Panchayats and Municipalities to bring social
justice to the people.
• To maintain social justice does not encouraged giving
anything in free, but aimed at providing
opportunities so as to enjoy the social benefits
equally.

20. Constitutional Provisions
• Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced
labour.
• Article 24: Prohibition of employment of children in
factories, etc.
• Article 37: Application of the principles contained in this Part
Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).
• Article 38: State to secure a social order for the promotion of
welfare of the people.
• Article 39: Certain principles of policy to be followed by the
State.
• Article 39A: Equal justice and free legal aid.
• Article 46: Promotion of Educational and Economic interests
of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker
sections.

21. • Social Safeguards
• Article 17: Abolition of Untouchability
• Article 25: Freedom of conscience and free profession,
practice and propagation of religion.
• Political Safeguards
• Article 330: Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People.
• Article 332: Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
• Article 334: Reservation of seats and special representation
to cease after sixty years.
• Article 243D: Reservation of seats (in Panchayats).
• Article 243T: Reservation of seats (in Municipalities).
• Agency for Monitoring Safeguards
• Article 338: National Commission for Scheduled Castes

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23. Dr.C.Thanavathi
M.A.(His.), M.Phil. (His.), B.A. (Eng.), M.Ed., M.Phil. (Edn.)
DGT., DCA, SET (Edn.), CTE, PGDHE, Ph.D. (Edn.), Ph.D. (His.)
Assistant Professor of History,
V.O.C. College of Education, Thoothukudi – 628008.
9629256771
thanavathic@thanavathi-edu.in
http://thanavathi-edu.in/index.html
Thank you