Guaranteeing Elementary Education

Abstract

This paper attempts to assess contemporary policies/programmes and financial commitments of the Indian state in providing elementary education to its children, as this, arguably, is among the most important basic needs in any society. As is well-known, in spite of the frequent rhetoric to the contrary, there has been a serious neglect in the public provisioning of this need, and the schooling system in India is nowhere near ready to provide a decent quality of education to all its children. Inadequate spending, as well as the malfunctioning of schools and other relevant institutions, have been the obvious bottlenecks constraining India's progress. Ostensibly, there is a greater sense of urgency in contemporary official discourses to address existing problems and move forward rapidly. However, our reading is that public commitment to quality elementary education continues to be half-hearted. The policy initiatives of the government in the last few years do not generate much optimism with respect to addressing the huge deficits in the education sector, and even appear to be retrogressive in important ways