KEY FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA: PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES

Elementary education is critically important as it lays the groundwork for an individual's lifelong learning journey. Numerous initiatives and schemes have been introduced to prioritize the primary education of children from disadvantaged, marginalized, and socio-economically backward communities. This study aims to explore the importance of elementary education in India. In 1950, Article 45 of the Constitution, under the Directive Principles of State Policy, mandated that the State should strive to provide free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of fourteen within ten years of the Constitution's commencement. Since then, several policy documents, including each Five Year Plan, the 1968 National Policy on Education, and the revised 1992 National Policy on Education, have sought to enhance India's efforts towards achieving Universal Elementary Education (UEE).