Description
Viva Books Elementary Education in India 2012 Edition by Jagannatha Rao
In India accessibility to schools, quality of educational infrastructure, performance levels of students and various other educational indicators are not uniform across the country. The current levels of completion of schooling fall well below the expected objective and constitutional mandate of providing 8 years of universal education for all children up to the age 14.Free and compulsory elementary education is now a fundamental right of every child in the age group of 6-14 years. This significant milestone (albeit on paper) was achieved after neatly six decades of the country-s independence. Lack of political will and inadequate provision of funds for -universalizing elementary education- are cited as some of the reasons for such an inordinate delay in converting the intent into law. It took another six years for the central government to place the -Right to education Bill- in Parliament.India-s progress in education since independence has been unprecedented by all standards through increase in the number of educational institutions, teachers, and infrastructure. In spite of this growth, the country faces a number of challenges. Nearly one-third of the population is illiterate. Critical gaps exist in educational attainments across regions as well as among different social groups. In this context, this book tries to analyse the status of elementary education in India. Among the various dimensions of elementary education discussed in this book are:- Current status- Important initiatives taken up by the centre and the states- Various issues- Equity issues- Financing of education- Community participation- Role of private sector in elementary education- Quality concerns- Future challenge in the fieldThe book tries to provide a comprehensive assessment of all these issues to enable informed debates about the future of elementary education in India.This book will enable teachers, academicians, education planners and administrators to get a holistic view of the current elementary education scenario in the country.Contents:Preface - Abbreviations and acronyms - Status of elementary education in India - Towards education for all (EFA) - Legislative and policy initiatives for development of education in India - Important government initiatives in elementary education - Elementary teacher education in India - Quality concerns in elementary education - Community participation and role of NGOs in education - Financing of education in India - Role of private sector in elementary education in India - Equity issues in elementary education in India - Concerns in elementary education - Annexure - BibliographyAbout the Authors:D. Jagannatha Rao was formerly Director of the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT), Karnataka. During his career spanning 37 years, he held many positions from the block level to the state level. He was the Director of Public Instruction in Karnataka from 1999 till 2006. In this capacity, he was in charge of the Directorates of Secondary Education, Janashala Project, North East Karnataka Directorate and finally DSERT.After retirement, he headed the following committees:- The committee on State Curricular Framework (2006)- The Perspective Plan Committee, which prepared a vision document and a 15-year Perspective Plan for Karnataka (2007)- The Committee for the revision of -The Karnataka Education Act 1983- (2009)- The Committee to draft the Rules for Karnataka under the Rt. E. Act (2010)He is the author of the book A Comprehensive Study of the Progress of Education in Karnataka published in both English and Karnataka in 2008.Target Audience:Students, researchers in Education, administrators and government education bodies.