Right to Education: The Past, Present and Future

Abstract

India is well known for its large pool of technical manpower, a fair proportion of which finds employment in developed countries, especially in the West. As a happy sequel to the story, India has recently witnessed a big boom in the BPO/KPO sector. In order to sustain this trend, and to ensure that India does not throw away this key advantage, it is imperative that we continue to produce a critical mass of highly skilled manpower at an accelerated pace. An enabling academic and economic setting is a key factor determining the fate of our nation in the wake of the knowledge sector boom. It is even more important for India to have a sound policy and machinery to backup the policies as more and more countries are viewing India as knowledge based economy for their investment prospects. This right was due for, at least a hundred years. United Kingdom introduced free and compulsory education in the year 1870. No doubt, India has dithered and lagged behind in introducing such legislation, with grave consequences. The scheme of right to education has vastly evolved from the old days, approach-courts-for your rights method. Government is more concerned about the social overhead capital development. But once again, social evils such as corruption, red-tapism and bribery cause a huge loss to the ex-chequer annually. As economist views stock market to know country’s economic development, it imperative to look for the dropout-rates and higher education enrollment list for country’s social development. In this scenario, there is no particular need to stress more and more upon the importance of giving free education. A worthy educational culture needs to be setup. That ‘Culture’ should inspire masses to feel the significance of education and know their rights. It is no wonder that a majority of the excluded and non-achievers come from the most deprived sections of society – Dalits, Other Backward Claases, tribals, women, Muslims and financially backward – precisely those who are supposed to be empowered through education.