Update to the National Plan of Action India: India's Stride towards Education for All

Abstract

India is a country of sub-co ntin ental dim ensions with 16% of the world’s population. The task of providing basic education to its 192 million children in the 6-14 age group has been a challenging one. The variations from region to region, from the coastal belts to the Himalayan highlands and riverine tracts to desert lands; with diverse languages and dialects and manifold social/cultural diversities, has made the task of providing mass education even more daunting. Fifty years ago, only 24 girls out of 100 went to school. Now this figure has risen to 86. In the overall scenario, 82 children out of 100 are in schools in the 6-14 age cohort. India is accelerating the pace of educational development so that all her children in the 6-14 age group receive elementary education by 2010.