Primary education system in India

The Indian government lays emphasis on primary education up to the age of fourteen years, referred to as elementary education in India.[15] The Indian government has also banned child labour in order to ensure that the children do not enter unsafe working conditions.[15] However, both free education and the ban on child labour are difficult to enforce due to economic disparity and social conditions.[15] 80% of all recognized schools at the elementary stage are government run or supported, making it the largest provider of education in the country.

School children, Mumbai

However, due to a shortage of resources and lack of political will, this system suffers from massive gaps including high pupil to teacher ratios, shortage of infrastructure and poor levels of teacher training. Figures released by the Indian government in 2011 show that there were 5,816,673 elementary school teachers in India.[17] As of March 2012 there were 2,127,000 secondary school teachers in India.[18] Education has also been made free[15] for children for 6 to 14 years of age or up to class VIII under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.[19]

There have been several efforts to enhance quality made by the government. The District Education Revitalization Programme (DERP) was launched in 1994 with an aim to universalize primary education in India by reforming and vitalizing the existing primary education system.[20] 85% of the DERP was funded by the central government and the remaining 15 percent was funded by the states.[20] The DERP, which had opened 160000 new schools including 84000 alternative education schools delivering alternative education to approximately 3.5 million children, was also supported by UNICEF and other international programmes.[20]

This primary education scheme has also shown a high Gross Enrollment Ratio of 93–95% for the last three years in some states.[20] Significant improvement in staffing and enrollment of girls has also been made as a part of this scheme.[20] The current scheme for universalization of Education for All is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which is one of the largest education initiatives in the world. Enrollment has been enhanced, but the levels of quality remain low.