National Education Day | 11 Nov 2020

Why in News

The Union Minister of Education virtually inaugurated the National Education Day programme organised by IIT Bombay.

Key Notes

National Education Day
- It has been observed every year on 11^th November, since 2008 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad :
  - He was the first Union Education Minister of India.
  - He was a freedom fighter, scholar and eminent educationist.
  - He was a key architect of Independent India who was responsible for setting up apex education bodies like All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC).
  - He was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award in 1992.
About the Event
- In the event India's commitment to establish India as a global hub of education and to ensure high quality of education was reiterated through Study in India, Stay in India and Internationalization of Education.
  - Study in India, Stay in India is an extension of the Study in India programme, a flagship project of the Government of India, launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Commerce and Industry in April 2018.
    - Study in india programme objectives:
      - To improve the soft power of India with focus on the neighbouring countries and use it as a tool in diplomacy.
      - To boost the number of inbound International students in India.
      - To double India’s market share of global education exports from less than 1 percent to 2 percent.
      - Increase in contribution of international students in the form of direct spends, indirect spends, spillover effects.
      - Improvement in overall quality of higher education.
      - Increase in global ranking of India as an educational destination.
      - To reduce the export – Import imbalance in the number of International students.
      - Growth of India’s global market share of International students.
  - India is cooperating and coordinating with the leading universities of the world. This has been incorporated in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 by inviting top 100 World Universities to set up campuses in India.

Education In India

Constitutional Provisions:
- Part IV of Indian Constitution, Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), has a provision for state-funded as well as equitable and accessible education.
- The 42^nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1976 moved education from the State to the Concurrent List.
  - The education policies by the Central government provides a broad direction and state governments are expected to follow it. However, it is not mandatory, for instance Tamil Nadu does not follow the three-language formula prescribed by the first education policy in 1968.
- The 86^th Amendment in 2002 made education an enforceable right under Article 21-A.
Related Laws:
- Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009 aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years and enforces education as a Fundamental Right.
  - It also mandates 25% reservation for disadvantaged sections of the society where disadvantaged groups
Government Initiatives:
- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS schools), Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV schools) and use of IT in education are a result of the NEP of 1986.

Way Forward

Programmes like Study in India and the New Education Policy aim to facilitate an inclusive, global and high quality education, which takes into consideration field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices.
If implemented in its true vision, they will bring India at par with the leading countries of the world and establish India as a global hub of education.

Source: PIB