Summary

DescriptionRight to Learn.ogg	English: Reading of the page of the page Right to Learn of the Development Cooperation Handbook On YouTube ⇒ Living with Dignity - playlist
Date	Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, April 2010
Source	Own work
Author	Rahulkepapa

In 2002, India enacted the historic 86th Indian Constitutional Amendment Act that declared elementary education as a Fundamental Right for all children. With 304 million Indian citizens still non-literate (UNDP 2009), the educational challenge could not be addressed merely with declarations of rights. So, the Government of India launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the 'Education for All' programme. Largely funded by the Indian government, this programme has received around 250m Euros from the World Bank and the European Union. In 2009, the Indian Parliament took a further step and passed “The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act” and delegated all all Indian States the duty to provide free and compulsory education to all children between 6 and 14 years old. And in order to increase the enrolment of girls in primary schools, the Indian government set up 3600 residential schools across the country for 6 to 14 year old girls from the most marginalized communities. Our team went to one such school in Sarnath, a town associated with Lord Buddha and located in the Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Here, besides the academic curricula, girls learn life skills and performing arts. They learn their rights and learn to defend themselves. They understand their role and value in family and society and acquire self-confidence. They learn to be proud of being women. Today, one can see the wide and substantial impact of India's investment in education over the past decade. 98% of India’s rural population today has access to primary schools within just a few kilometres of their habitation; Primary school enrolment among girls has risen from a mere 16% in 1950 to 48.2% in 2009. Although in 2011, women’s literacy rates were only 65%, while those for men were 82%, the gender gap in the past decade has narrowed with female literacy rates at 11.8% as compared with 6.9% among men. Although India still has a long way to go, with only 8 million children out of school in 2009, it has started walking on the path towards ensuring the right to education for each Indian child. In fact, most Indians believe that education for all is the best investment that families and Governments can make. The benefits of such investments will be enjoyed by all.

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