INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

The United Nation General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of
Human Right in India in the year 199. Under Article 26 of UDHIR, Children have the Right to Education.
Education should be free at least up o Elementary Level. The constitution of India also provides Free and
Compulsory Education. The 86th amendment of India states that every child between the ages of 6- 14
year has the right to Free and Compulsory Education. It means that education is now legally enforceable
duty of the State and Centre. Centre and State has to provide Free and Compulsory Education under the
said group. As such the Government of India has under taken a number of reforms in the field of
education, which has made education accessible to all children in the country.

The Right to free and Compulsory Education Act came into force from April1st 2010. This is a
historic day for the people of India as from this day the Right to Education will be accorded the same
legal status as the right to life as provided as provided by Article 21(A) of the Constitution. Every child in
the age group of 6 – 14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate class
room in vicinity of his/her neighbourhood. The bill describes the methods of the provision of free and
Compulsory Education of a child between the age group of 6 – 14 years in India under Article 21
constitution of India. The bill makes it Fundamental Right for all children between the age of 6 – 14
years. The bill also specifies the various responsibilities and roles of various stakeholders like
Government, Local bodies, Schools and teachers for achieving UEE. It has a provision for reservation of
25% seats in the private schools for the poor children. As such this bill was notified as a law on 3 rd
September 2009 as Child’s Right for Free and Compulsory Education.

The recognition that that the development of human capital is essential for the socio-economic
growth of the nation and that education leads to its development has led to an increase in investment in
education globally as well as in Indian context. As the Indian expenditure in education as a percentage of
GDP increased from 2006 to 2011, learning levelS decline over the same period (Protham 2012).