UNIT 2 CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATIONS

Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Objectives
2.3 Indian Constitution and National Goals
2.4 India as Democratic, Socialist and Secular Republic
2.4.1 Democracy and Education
2.4.2 Socialist Ideals and Education
2.4.3 Secularism

2.5 Education in the Indian Constitution

2.5.1 Union List
2.5.2 State List
2.5.3 Concurrent List
2.5.4 Education of Weaker Sections of Society
2.5.5 Protection to the Interests of Minorities
2.5.6 Girl’s Education
2.5.7 Medium of Instruction
2.5.8 Conservation of National Heritage

2.6 Education in Indian Constitution: An Appraisal

2.7 Let Us Sum Up
2.8 Unit-end Excercises

2.9 Suggested Readings

2.1 INTRODUCTION
India emerged as a nation free from British rule on August 15,1947. However the hard
won independence posed many challenges which the country had to tackle. One of
these was mass illiteracy and a system of education which was qualitatively poor and
quantitatively inadequate especially to meet this challenge. Only 14 percent of the total
population in 1947 was literate and only one child out of three was enrolled in primary
school. Regional, gender, caste and class disparities further complicated the situation.
There was acute shortage of trained technical and scientific personnel in the country
who could take up gigantic task of national reconstruction. There was an immediate
need in India to enlarge her resources by developing new productive capacities to meet
the challenges of inequality, illiteracy, poverty and ignorance and to assure all its citizens
the benefits of freedom and social Justice. Therefore a constitution was considered
essential for the country.

2.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you may be able to:
l explain various constitutional provisions;
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l define differentiate among democracy, socialism and secularism;
l describe the rationale for various articles of the constitution;.

l describe the need for protective discrimination for minorities and weaker sections
of Indian society;

l explain the Directive Principles of the state;

l distinguish between fundamental rights and duties.

2.3 INDIAN CONSTITUTION AND NATIONAL GOALS

A constitution is an essential document for any nation to provide direction and guidance
to the functioning of the government. It describes the basic functions of good or
constructive governance and provides ways and means to its attainment without using
citizens as mere ‘means’. It ensures the protection of the rights and interests of its
citizens and directs government to work for their welfare in all spheres of life. At the
same time it also indicates how citizens should conduct themselves and be responsible
to the government. Consequently the Constitution of India, which became effective on
26th January, 1950 laid down the basic framework of independent India’s goals and
policies. The Preamble of the constitution is an important part which delineates the
idea and ideals of the people of India. To be more precise it lays down the social
philosophy of our country and governance based on this philosophy.

The Preamble to our constitution reads as follows:

‘‘We, The People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
Sovereign Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens;

Justice, social economic and political;

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

Equality of status and of opportunity and to promote them among all;

Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation;

In our constituent Assembly this 26th day of November, 1949 Do hereby adopt,
enact and give to ourselves the constitution.’’

It is clear from the Preamble that the constitution proclaimed India as a sovereign,
socialist, democratic republic ensuring all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.
The educational goals, policies and programmes of our country have been spelt out
within the framework of the national goals and principles laid down in the constitution.

2.4 INDIA AS DEMOCRATIC, SOCIALIST AND SECULAR

REPUBLIC
The Preamble of the constitution declares India as “democratic, socialist and secular
republic”. It is essential for you as teachers to understand these concepts and their
implications for education. Therefore, let us discuss these concepts one by one and
see how these ideas have shaped the educational structure of the country.
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2.4.1 Democracy and Education Obligations

The word democracy is derived from the Greek word DEMOS meaning people and
KRATOS meaning power. Democracy therefore means power of the people.
Democracy is a social organisation and relies heavily upon the principles of social,
economic and legal equality. “Respect for the individual” and “Equality of opportunity”
are two basic pillars of democratic philosophy.

Social democracy refers to the equality of status and the opportunity for the development
of each and every individual. Discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, race, gender
or religion has no place in a democratic society. Freedom of thought, expression,
discussion and the right to earn livelihood are guaranteed to every individual citizen.
Therefore social democracy recognises the worth of every member of society and
treats him/her as a sovereign entity with power to govern his/her own activities.
Democracy is a cooperative society of the people, for the people and by the people.
Economic aspects of democracy imply that economic powers are not concentrated in
the hands of the powerful few, or a particular class but on the other hand, these are
vested in the hands of the people as a whole. It also ensures that no person is exploited
by others for increasing their material gains. Equal and just distribution of wealth and a
fair standard of living for every member of community are the basic principles of economic
democracy. In such a society economic organizations are based on cooperative rather
than on competitive set up and economic projects are aimed at the development of the
community as a whole and not for the benefit of a private individual and thus each
individual would have equal opportunity to work according to his/her own abilities and
capacities.

The political concept of democracy was described by the American President Abraham
Lincoln in the following words:

“Democracy is a government of the people, for the people, and by the people”. A
democratic state is often described as a welfare state in which the aim of the state is
the welfare of its citizen. This refers to the status of an adult having right to franchise
and thus having a share in the governance of the country. Democracy recognises the
worth and dignity of every human being and has respect for the individuality of a person.
Therefore each and every individual is equal in the eyes of Democracy, without any
distinction of caste, creed, colour, race or gender. It may therefore be conclude that
a democratic society is based on (i) dignity of the individual (ii) equality (iii) freedom
(iv) brotherhood (v) cooperation of all individuals (vi) appreciation of the contribution of
all individuals (vii) character and intelligence to form judgement and (viii) good citizenship.
The strength and merits of a democracy can be judged only by the efficiency with
which it accomplishes these purposes and the amount of satisfaction that it brings to its
people. Education is considered an instrument to achieve these objectives.

There are certain conditions that are considered essential for the success of a democracy,
chief among these are People’s faith in democratic ideals, willingness to shoulder civic
responsibilities, political consciousness, respect for each other, economic security to all
people and education of members of society. Education is considered to be of prime
importance and the chief instrument to achieve its social ideals. It is an instrument for
creating desirable attitudes, and scientific temper among the citizens of country, The
objective of democracy is not merely to provide equal opportunities but also opportunities
to serve the right. Responsibility and not licence and minimizing the injustice caused by
self-centeredness are the watchwords of democracy. The objectives of democracy
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demand for their attainment, aware educated and intelligent citizens. Therefore education
in a democracy should reach out to masses. Equal opportunities to each and every
citizen have to be provided to develop the citizen capacities to the maximum. We have
discussed in the proceeding sub-section various constitutional provisions to ensure equal
access to education for all in detail.

2.4.2 Socialist Ideals and Education

Let us now discuss the second national goal i.e. socialism and its implications for education.
Socialism is one of the wheels on which political democracy moves. The economic
dimension of the democracy has been referred to at in the beginning of this chapter
which ensures a minimum standard of living and a reduced gap between the rich and
the poor. Democracy without economic stability and growth can not be stable, it cannot
sustain itself and the economic well being of individuals is a precondition for economic
stability. Hence democracy, economic welfare of people and socialism are interdependent
on each other. Democracy along with socialism helps attain the real purpose of the
government of the people and for the people.

Socialism, in the Indian context, stands for dignity and freedom of human being. However
ignorant and illiterate members of a society can not promote socialism as they are
vulnerable to various forms of exploitation. Education, therefore, has to be used as an
instrument of social change and social control.

2.4.3 Secularism

The third cherished goal of the Indian Constitution is secularism. The origin of the
word secularism can be traced to the 19th century to denote ‘a theory of life as opposed
to the prevailing religions ideology’. In fact secularism may be considered as a revolt
against religious fanaticism and conservation. In a way secularism promoted agnosticism
(neither belief nor disbelief in God) amongst people who viewed religion as independent
of the conduct of good life. In the western society it later on demarcated the role of
church to impart religious education to clergy and the role of the state to provide for the
education of the masses.

Dr. Radhakrishnan described secularism in the following words:

“Secularism does not mean irreligion. It means that we respect all faiths and religions”.
India is a multi-religious and multi-lingual country with vast disparities. The country
declared itself as secular nation on the eve of the independence to give equal opportunity
to its citizens to practice their religion without any fear or apprehension. However
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian constitution, said, “secular state does
not mean that we shall not take into consideration the religious sentiments of people.
All that a secular state means is that this parliament shall not be competent to impose
any particular religion upon the people. That is the only limitation that the constitution
recognises’’. A secular state, therefore, may be characterised as:

i) having no religion of its own;

ii) not providing a preferential treatment to the followers of any faith;

iii) not practicing any discrimination against any person on account of his/her faith;
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iv) providing equal opportunity of employment in government establishment of people Constitutional
Obligations
of all faith.

Accordingly every citizen of the country has equal rights and opportunities of
advancement while practising his/her own religion. Therefore the responsibility of
imparting religious education falls on the family as well as religious institution. Moral
education without hurting anyone’s religious sentiments is integrated in overall
curriculum at various stages of schooling. Secularism stands for at least six virtues
which education has to strive for such as education for peace, education for love,
education for tolerance, education for truth, education for reverence and education for
human rights. Religion has to be understood in its broader sense as a way of life and
not as a narrow rigid and fanatic instruction which encourages superiority of one sector
race over the other. India by declining herself as a secular state give to all its citizens
the right, subject to public order, morality and health, the freedom of conscience and the
right to proofs, practice and propogate religion freely without disrespecting other religions.
Consequently the educational interests of religious minorities have been well protected
through various clauses of constitution which have been discussed in later part of this
chapter.

Check Your Progress

Notes : a) Write your answer in the space given below.

b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit.

1. Describe the educational implications of declaring India as a Democratic,

Socialist, and Secular Republic, in about 8 lines.

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2.5 EDUCATION IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

As discussed earlier the educational system in India at the time of independence was
both quantitatively inadequate to cater to the needs of the entire country and contribute
in its construction. The framers of the constitution however were well aware that
education is the infrastructure of the entire national development therefore they gave it
an important place in the constitution. For legislative Powers a clear line of demarcation
between central, state and concurrent subjects was drawn. Accordingly, the Indian
parliament has exclusive powers to make laws in respect of the matters comprising the
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Union list, while the state legislature is considered the supreme authority in respect of
matters included in the State list, For the subjects included in the concurrent list both
the parliament and the state legislatures have the authority to legislate. However in
case of any conflict between central and the state legislation, the central legislation will
prevail. Nevertheless the executive powers in respect of matters in concurrent list
remain with the state, unless the constitution or parliament, by law, expressly provides
otherwise. The Seventh Schedule of the constitution has three lists :The Union list with
97 entries in respect of which the parliament has exclusive power to legislate; the State
list with 66 entries and the Concurrent list with 47 entries where both the central and
state government have legislative powers. Education appears in all three list.

2.5.1 Union List

Out of 97 entries included in the union list 7 entries pertain to education:

Entry13: Educational and cultural relations with foreign countries.

Entry 62 : Instittution of national importance like National Library, the India Museum,
the Imperial War Memorial: any institution wholly or partly financed by the center and
legally declared as intitution of the national importance.

Entry 64: Institutions of Scientific and Technical Education partly or wholly financed
by the government and legally declared as institution of national importance.

Entry 65: Union Agencies and institutions for (a) professional, vocational or technical
training, including the training of police officers; (b) the promotion of special studies or
research and (c) scientific or technical assistance in the investigation or detection of
crime.

Entry 66: Coordination and determination of standards in institutions of higher education

and research.

Entry 67: Ancient historical monuments and records and archaeological sites and
remains, legally declared to be of national importance.

2.5.2 State List

Two out of 66 items enlisted in the state list pertain to education. Entry 11 of the state
list lays down that “education including universities, subject to the provision of entries
63,64,65 and 66 of union list and entry 25 of the concurrent list should be state subject”.

Entry 12: Keeps under state jurisdiction the libraries, museums and other similar
institutions controlled or financed by the state as well as ancient and historical monuments
and records (other than those declared as of national importance)

2.5.3 Concurrent List

6 items out of 47 in the concurrent list directly or indirectly relate to education.

Entry 20: Economic and social planning.

Entry 25: Education, including technical education, medical education and universities,
vocational and technical training of labour.

Entry 26: Legal, medical and other professions.

Entry 28: Charities and charitable institutions.

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Entry 39: Newspaper, books and printing presses. Obligations

Entry 40: Archeological sites and remains other than those declared by or under law
made by Parliament law to be of national importance.

Education till 1976 was a state subject, however the 42nd constitutional amendment in
1976 brought about a drastic change and the Indian Parliament was empowered with
the authority to legislate on education concurrently with the state. The Swaran Singh
Committee considered Agriculture and Education as subjects of prime importance to
the country’s rapid progress towards achieving desired socio-economic changes. The
Committee further maintained that the need to evolve all India policies in relation to
these two subjects cannot be over emphasised. This amendment made central and state
governments equal partner in framing educational polices with Center having the executive
power to give direction to the state. The centre can implement directly any policy
decision in any state. Till the National Policy on Education (1986) the centre was relying
on a consensual approach to promote educational development. NPE (I986) however
envisaged concurrency as meaningful partnership between the centre and states and
and placed on union government a clear responsibility regarding the national and integrative
character of education, quality of education and manpower planning etc. National
institutions like UGC, NCERT and the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) is
the apex body regarding educational policies and decisions at the national level.

Besides this demarcation of legislative powers, the constitution contains several Articles
which have significant bearing on various aspect of education. The most significant
among these is Article 45 under Directive Principles of State Policy which laid down
the foundation stone of free and compulsory education in the country. The Article
states 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”. The term “state” has been elaborated
and defined elsewhere in Article 12 to include the Government and legislature of each
of the states and local or other authorities within the territory of India or under control
of Government of India.

Article 45 recognizes the child’s right to get education and directs the state:

a) to make primary education compulsory and available to all;

b) to encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including

general and vocational education, make them accessible and available to every
child and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and
offering financial assistance in case of need. Equality of educational opportunity
can not be denied to any one under Article 29(2) according to which admission
cannot be refused to anyone on the basis of race, caste, language in any institution
maintained by the state or aided by the state. Also the five articles - 15, 29(2),
15(3), 46 and 29(l) entrust responsibility of equalization of educational opportunity
in all parts of country to the Government of India and to that end, to give special
assistance to backward areas or states.

It is therefore clear that the task of providing universal educational opportunity to all
children of the country is joint responsibility of the central government, state governments
and local bodies as well as voluntary organisations. The central government, in respect
of primary education, has some important roles to play such as initiating researches and
pilot projects in elementary education, providing financial assistance to states, acting as
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coordinating agency between state and other international agencies, and sorting out
the differences between various states, ensuring equitable distribution of resources
and inequality of opportunities etc. The state governments on the other hand have to
shoulder the responsibility of trying to bring children to the place of education especially
the school and pass laws for this. Decisions regarding the organisation and structure
of education are state concerns. Consequently within the overall policy framework
each state determines independently its own educational structure. Consequently
Compulsory Education Acts have been passed and enforced in the states and these
have resulted in phenomenal growth of education and enrolment of boys and girls.

Check Your Progress

Notes : a) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit.

2. Answer by tick marking ( 3 ) whether given statements are ‘True’ or ‘False’.

i) Indian Parliament has exclusive rights to make laws in respect of the

matters comprising Union List. (T/F)

ii) State legislature is not the supreme authority in respect of matters included
in the State List. (T/F)

iii) For the subjects included in Concurrent List both Parliament and State
legislatures have the right to legislate. (T/F)

iv) Central and State Governments are not equal partner in framing educational
policies. (T/F)

2.5.4 Education of Weaker Sections of Society

Educational interests of the weaker sections of the community (that is socially an
educationally backward classes of society or scheduled castes and scheduled tribes)
are safeguarded by Article 15 and Article 46. Article 46 under Directive Principle of
State Policy maintains that the state shall promote with special care the educational
and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and in particular of the
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and
all forms of exploitation. Special measures, in terms of reservation of seats for admission
in an educational institution, free uniform, books and scholarship, have been taken by
government to provide educational opportunities to these sections of the society.

2.5.5 Protection to the Interests of Minorities

India is a country of linguistic, cultural, racial and religious minorities. The framers of
the constitution were well aware of the diversity of the country and provided enough
protection to their educational interests. Minorities group have been identified on the
basis of religion, language script and culture. Various articles of the constitution provide
freedom to these groups to keep intact their religious cultural and linguistic identities.
Article 29 and Article 30 guarantee certain cultural and educational rights to minorities
to establish and administer educational institution.

Article 29(3) lays down that no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational
institution maintained by the state or receiving aid, funds on grounds only of religion,
race, caste, language or any one of them. Article 29(l) stipulates that ‘‘any section of
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the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having distinct language, Obligations
script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same’’.

Article 30(1) enjoins that All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall
have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their own choice
while Article 30(2) states that “ the state 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”.

Article 350A directs the state to endeavor to provide adequate facilities for institution
in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic
minorities groups.

Article 350 B makes provision for appointment of special officer for linguistic minorities
to investigate into all matters relating to safeguards provided for linguistics minorities
under the constitution.

Since hidia is a secular nation, Article 28(l) prevents state run institutions from imparting
any religious instruction in these institution. There is, however, no bar to imparting any
religious instructions in any educational institutions established under any endowment or
trust, which requires the imparting of such instruction under Article28(3). This article
however gives freedom to a child to decide whether he/she desires to attend religious
instruction or not. Article 30(2) states, the state shall not discrimate in granting aid to
an educational institution on the grounds that it is under the management of a minority,
whether based on religion or language.

The interests of ethnic minority groups, though well protected by constitution, have
given rise to many caste, religion and language related problems, which were experienced
and reflected upon by the Secondary Education Constitution (I952-53) and the Indian
Education Commission (1964-68). While the Secondary Education Commission observed
that some of the minority administered schools were creating unhealthy trends in
admission and recruitment of staff. The Indian Education Commission felt that these
schools encourage and promote divisive tendencies and caste loyalties. Growing
incidence of caste, class, religious intolerance and conflicts, violence and fanaticism
may be the reflection of the fears expressed by these commissions.

2.5.6 Girl’s Education

The gap between boy’s and girl’s participation in education is the biggest gap that
needs to be filled for achieving the goals cherished in Article 45 of the constitution.
The constitution recognized the need for equal educational opportunities for all as the
prerequisite for the growth and prosperity of the nation. Consequently Article 15(1)
and Article 16(1) make provision for the protection of the interest of the weaker sex.
While article 15(1) recommends that the state shall not discriminate any citizen on
grounds only of .....sex, Article 16(1) advocate quality of opportunity for all citizens in
employment or appointment to any office under the state. Article 15(3) gives freedom
to states to make special provisions for women and children. Consequently several
states have made reservation in state run educational institutions, in legislatures, in
public sector employment etc. In several states 30 to 40 percent jobs are reserved for
women. As women form half of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other
backward classes, they are entitled to half of the benefits accruing out of these
reservations.
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Acharya Ramamurthy Review Committee while reviewing the National Policy of
Education (1986) and its Programme of Action, recommended that reservations with in
all reservation in educational institutions or education schemes must exist for girls who
form 50% of the population in every age group. Women along with their men counterpart
enjoy all the fundamental rights provided to the citizens of the country under Part III of
the Indian Constitution. As discussed earlier, the 42 nd Amendment of the Constitution
in 1976 incorporated Fundamental Duties for the citizens of the country which are listed
in Article 51(A). One of the duties of the citizens of India is to renounce practices
derogatory to the dignity of women Article 51 A(e).

2.5.7 Medium of Instruction

India is a multi-language country and a uniform medium of instruction was not found to
be practicable; therefore Article 350A recognized the importance of the mother tongue
and recommended that “ It shall be the endeavor of the every 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 direction to any
state as he considers necessary or proper for securing the provision of such facilities”.

Various commissions and committees on education since independence have also realized
the need for imparting education in the mother tongue to children. Secondary Education
Commission (1952-53), Education Commission (1964-66) and the NPE (1986) have
supported the claim of mother tongue as a medium of instruction. The Education
Commission remarked that the medium selected should enable the student to acquire
knowledge with facility to express themselves with clarity and to think with precision
and vigour. From this point of view the claims of mother tongue are pre-eminent.

However the constitution was alive to the need for a national language. It maintained
that Hindi should ultimately be the official language of the Union. Therefore it made
provision through Article 351 to propagate and develop Hindi. The Article states:

“It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to
develop it so that it may serve as medium of expression for all the elements of the
composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering
with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani, and in the other
languages of India specified in the Eighth schedule, and by drawing wherever necessary
or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondaly on other languages”.

The Ministry of Education and subsequently Ministry of Human Resource Development

initiated several steps to propagate Hindi as the national language of the union over the
years. Encouraging working in Hindi, preparation of scientific and technical terminology,
publication of revised and annotated addition of standard Hindi works, Hindi encyclopedia,
dictionary, typewriters and more recently computers, translation of literature from other
languages in Hindi, propagation of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking regions, observance of
Hindi week etc. are some of the steps that have been taken to popularise Hindi.
However in spite of all these efforts, we are still struggling to make Hindi a national
language in the true sense because of strong reluctance of non-Hindi speaking states in
accepting it as an official and national language.

2.5.8 Conversation of National Heritage

Under Article 49, the state is under obligation to protect monuments places or objects
of artistic or historic interests declared by parliament to be of national importance.

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2.6 EDUCATION IN INDIAN CONSTITUTION : AN Obligations

APPRAISAL
Let us analyse the constitutional obligations in respect of education and their implications
for national development. Constitutional provisions reflect the aspirations of the framers
of constitution about the kind of welfare state they envisaged and which can be achieved
through the instrument of education. For this reason education for all upto a certain
level was considered the basic requirement for growth and development of nation.
Education at all stages has been considered the state responsibility, the only exceptions
being university education and technical education. In view of the need for coordination
of facilities and the maintenance of standard at higher levels, the constitution has placed
its responsibility on central government. Similarly heavy expenses are involved in scientific
and technical education hence promotion of scientific and technical education is the
responsibility of the central government.

However, the central government is neither passive nor indifferent towards education.
The importance of universalization of primary education is well recognized in Article 45
in view of the importance of education in the success of democracy in the country. But
keeping in view the huge cost and magnitude of effort needed to universalise education,
the Central Government committed itself to the obligation of actively participating in and
supporting the programme of providing free and compulsory education for all children
up to the age of 14 years, An analysis of center-state relations in the context of education
reveals dominance of central role over the state not only due to financial reasons but
also because of the following eight reasons: (a) the Central Government is the repository
of all information from all the states and also from other nations and thus it functions as
a clearinghouse; (b) the national policy on education is formulated by centre in interest
of national solidarity; (c) the center is responsible for equalizing educational opportunities
across different states, groups and sections of society; (d) for national unity Hindi was
considered to be the official language the Central government is responsible for its
promotion and development as a national language: (e) the central government also
assumes crucial role in safeguarding the cultural interests of the minorities and for
ensuring adequate facilities for their education at least up to primary level in their mother
tongue; (f ) responsibilities like securing foreign assistance for education, training of
Indians abroad, relationship with international organisations like UNESCO, participation
in bilateral or multilateral programmes of education, assistance with other countries are
also the responsibility of central government; (g) Entry 20 of List III in concurrent list of
the constitution refers to ‘economic and social planning’ in the list, this indicates that the
central government has a constitutional responsibility for the economic and social
development of the country as a whole.

It is obvious from the above description that so far as education is concerned, the
framers of the constitution wanted to create a ‘strong’ center, Therefore most of the
resources were kept with the central government and state government have to seek
central assistance for implementation of various programmes. Consequently the center
has more dominating role in the overall formulation of policies, priorities and programmes.
In actual practice while formulating and implementing the Five Year Plans, the
Government of India has been taking major policy decision on education. A number of
constitutional amendments have also been made by the central government from time to
time to keep pace with changing demand of the needs of dynamic society.

For instance, the National Policy on Education (1986) emphasised decentralisation, greater
participation and ownership of community in education especially in the context of
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universal elementary education of children up to 14 years of age. The policy emphasised
“family-wise plan of action” by which “every child regularly attends school or non-
formal education center, continues his /her education at a place suitable to him/her and
completes at least 8 years of schooling at school / centre of non-formal education”. To
operationalise such micro-level planning the idea of Village Education Committee and
similar participatory structures at Block, Taluka, and District levels were conceptualized
and established at many places.

With the enactment of the 73rd and 74th Amendment Act, popularly known as Panchayati
Raj Act 1992, the objective of micro planning and decentralisation has been tried and
achieved in considerable measure. The focus is now concentrated on democratically
elected bodies at the district, block, panchayat and municipal levels. These Panchayati
Raj bodies with adequate representation of women, scheduled castes, and scheduled
tribes, minorities, representatives of parents, educationists and appropriate institutions,
will have responsibility of preparing development plans and implementing education
programmes besides other subjects closely related to education such as health, social
welfare, women and child development etc. Village Education Committees (VEC’s)
are to play crucial role under Panchayati Raj and are responsible for administration of
education programmes at the village level. The responsibilities of VEC include
operationalisation of micro planning and school mapping in the village through systematic
house-to-house surveys and periodic discussions with parents. Ensuring participation in
primary education of the every child in every family is one of the prime aims of VEC.
This may help in universalisation of primary education which is a cherished constitutional
objective.

Another major step which the central government has planned to take is bringing out
the 83rd Constitutional Amendement (1999) to make education a fundamental right of
all children between the age of 6-14 years. The right to education was granted by the
supreme court (1999) in the Unnikrishnan Vs. Andhra Pradesh case where the Supreme
Court decreed ‘‘every child has a right to free education until he completes the age of
14 years’’.

Check Your Progress

Notes : a) Write your answers in the space given below.

b) Compare your answers with the one given at the end of this unit.

3. Tick mark ( 3 ) wherever it applies.

a) In our constitution there is provision for safeguarding educational interest

of weaker sections of society. ( )

b) mother tongue need not be the medium of instruction at primary level.

( )

c) National Policy on Education (1986) emphasized decentralisation, greater

participation and ownership of community in Education. ( )

d) Village Education Committees are not responsible for ensuring children’s

enrolement in schools. ( )

e ) Girls education is one of the National priority area in Education. ( )

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 Constitutional
2.7 LET US SUM UP Obligations

In this unit we discussed the constitutional obligations in respect of education. The

needs of post independent Indian society motivated the founders of the constitution to
adopt a democratic, socialistic and secular pattern of Indian society. Domocracy as
defined by the President Abraham Lincoln refers to the ‘government of the people, by
the people and for the people’. It is often taken as a welfare state, which aims at the
welfare of its citizen. Socialistic way of living strives for reducing gap between the rich
and poor and ensuring a minimum standard of living for every one. By declaring itself a
secular state India provided freedom and equal opportunity to various religious groups
to practice their own belief without any fear.

Education in India is a concurrent subject about which both the center and state can
make legislation. However if there is any contradiction between the center and the
state on any educational issue, the central legislation prevails. We have discussed in
detail various constitutional provisions in respect of education. Article 45 under the
Directive Principles of the States laid the foundation stone for free and compulsory
education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years. Article 28 makes
education a fundamental right of the child and directs the state to make necessary
provision for free and compulsory education. Article 15, 15(3), 29(1), 29(2) and 46
entrust the responsibility of equalisation of educational opportunity in all parts of the
country on Government of India. The interests of weaker sections of society, girls and
minority groups are also protected through various articles of the constitution.

We have also discussed center and state relationship in the context of education, and
observed that though education is placed in the concurrent list central government has
relatively major role to play on issues pertaining to education. The central government
has made various constitutional amendments to universalize elementary education. In
this context the Panchayati Raj Bill (73rd and 74h Constitutional Amendments) is crucial
as it encourages decentralisation and greater community involvement in educating its
children. At the end we discussed the 83rd Constitutional amendment bill to be passed
in winter session of Parliament in 1999, which makes education a Fundamental Right of
the child up to 14 years of age. This will make it obligatory for the parents to send their
children, of this age group, to schools compulsorily.

2.8 UNIT-END EXERCISES

1. Discuss Articles 28 and 30 in terms of their educational importance.

2. What changes have been brought about in educational policies through the 42nd
constitutional amendment?

3. Which Articles in our constitution deal with the medium of instruction and what
do they prescribes?

4. How have the interests of the weaker section of society and minority groups
been protected by the constitution?

2.9 SUGGESTED READINGS

Arora, G.L. (1995) : Child-centered Education for Learning without Burden, Krishna
Publishing Company, Gurgaon.
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Indian Society
Dutt, Sunitee (ed.) (1988) : Teacher and Education in the Emerging Indian Society,
NCERT, New Delhi.

Kochhar, S.K. (1984) : Pivotal Issues in India Education, Sterling Publishers, New
Delhi.

MHRD (1993) : Education for All - The Indian Scene, New Delhi.

MHRD (1986) : National Policy on Education, New Delhi.

Taneja, V.R. (1981) : Educational Though and Practice, Sterling Publishers,

New Delhi.

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Education is viewed as an instrument of social change and social control.

Each child will be provided equal access to quality education irrespective of caste,
creed, race and gender to become responsbile, aware and intelligent citizens of its
country. Education should be used as an instrument for promoting peace, love,
tolerance, truth, reverance and human rights. Children be tought to respect all
religions.

2. i) T (ii) F (iii) T (iv) F

3. c) and e)

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