STATUS OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION THE ROAD TRAVERSED
UEE has been accepted as a national goal since 1950. It implies universal access, retention and achievement of children in classes I to VIII. Concretely this means:
Universal Access: Universal enrolment of all children, including disadvantaged children; provision of a primary school within 1 km. walking distance and facilities for nonformal education for school dropouts, working children and girls who cannot attend formal schools; and improvement in the ratio of upper primary schools to primary schools from the existing level of 1:4 to 1:2.
Universal Retention: Reduction of dropout rates in classes I-V and class VI-VIII from the current levels of 46 % and 60 % respectively to 20 % and 40 % respectively.
Universal Achievement: Achievement of MLLs by almost all children at the primary level and introduction of this concept at the upper primary stage.
Within these parameters, the government is making all out efforts to honour the declarations made for achieving the goal of EFA in the Jomtien Global Conference on Basic Education in 1990, and the resolutions adopted in the Conference of the nine most populous countries (EFA-9) in 1993 at New Delhi. The national commitment to provide 6 % of GDP for education and to earmark 50 % of budgetary allocations for primary education should provide the requisite fillip to India's efforts to achieve UEE.
The rejuvenation of local bodies in most parts of the country in the wake of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments as well as the infusion of a large number of women members and representatives of other disadvantaged sections into these bodies have provided a
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great opportunity to bring about effective devolution of powers and decentralisation of authority for better planning and management of elementary education at the grassroots.
Achievements Expanding Access: Concerted efforts towards UEE have resulted in manyfold increase in institutions, teachers and students. Between 1990-91 and 1995-96, the number of primary schools increased by 5 %. The number of upper primary schools increased by 13 %. Growth in enrolments have also been significant. It was 12 % in primary classes (I-V) and 20 % in upper primary classes (VI-VIII). Recent levels indicate that gender and sectional gaps in enrolments at the primary level are narrowing down, albeit gradually.
Retention: The dropout rates have shown a declining trend during the past four years, 1992-96. They declined from 42% in 1991-92 to 34.5% in 1995-96 in case of primary classes, showing an overall decrease of 7.5 %. In case of upper primary classes, the dropout rates declined by 7.1% from 58.7% in 1991-92 to 51.6% in 1995-96.
Learner's Achievement: One of the thrust areas of UEE has been the effort to improve learning achievement of children both in primary and upper primary classes, mainly through the programme of Minimum Levels of Learning (MLLs). Several states have successfully used the idea of MLL to launch a number of activities including revision of text books, changes in curricula and teaching Methodologies, as well as the content of teacher training.
Despite significant achievements in UEE, there are severe gender, regional, sectional and caste disparities in UEE. A significant proportion of students-dropout due to socioeconomic and cultural factors as also due to lack of adequate infrastructure, shortage of teachers and other reasons. A large proportion of children in the 6- 14 age group are out of school.
Ensuring access to good quality learning environment for all children in the age group of 6-14 is still a daunting task. The nation has taken up this challenge. As India enters the next 5 years of planned development, straddling across to the next century midway, it stands committed to achieve UEE.
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