The solution

These changes are in the education policy enabling environment and due to the emergence of
COVID-19 and its impact on education services.

The three programming areas prioritized at the beginning of the country programme in 2018 based on
UNICEF’s mandate, presence and knowledge of other stakeholders and partners, capacities,
available resources, gaps/needs and lessons learned, remain relevant. These are:

● Early childhood education

Girls and boys including the most marginalised will enjoy sustained and equitable benefit from quality
education with learning outcomes focusing on foundational learning and life skills. This is the vision of
the UNICEF Education Programme.

UNICEF/UN0269637/HajraGirls taking part in the menstrual hygiene management (MHM) programme

While primary engagement will be with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Women and
Child Development, more involvement with ministries of Tribal, Minority and Social Justice
Departments, Disaster Management Authorities will be essential especially in terms of ensuring the
delivery of quality education to the most marginalized children which forms the centre of our work.

To achieve the outcome - Girls and boys, particularly the most disadvantaged, participate in quality
education with learning outcomes at grade appropriate levels by 2022. The programme

The following intermediate outcomes have been identified:

● Number of out-of-school children reduced in nine high concentration states

Since 2000, the World Bank has committed over $2 billion to education in India. It also provides
technical support. Assistance includes:

Early Childhood Development: The World Bank supports India’s Integrated Child Development
Services with several operations. These projects include lessons learned from research and analysis
such as Reaching out to the Child which recommends decentralized and integrated approaches to
early childhood development. The World Bank is also doing research to explore improvements in
service delivery using micro-planning and finding synergies among various social programs for
children.

Elementary/Primary education: Since 2003, the Bank has been working with Central and State
governments, along with development partners (UK's DFID and the European Union) to support the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program. In Phase 1 (2003-2007) the Bank invested $ 500 million to expand
facilities and improve infrastructure, get children to school, and set up a system to assess learning. In
Phase 2 (2007-2012) the Bank will provide a total of $ 1.35 billion to expand access to upper primary
education, increase retention of all students until completion of elementary education (Grade 8), and
improve learning levels. In addition, Bank evaluations and research provide pointers to further
improvements. This includes studies on financing elementary education, teacher absenteeism,
instructional time and quality in primary education and the impact of information sharing with village
education committees, inclusive education for children with disabilities, comparisons between public
and private schooling in UP, AP, and MP, and incentives to improve quality.

Secondary Education: The World Bank is in the process of preparing support to the Government of
India’s new centrally sponsored scheme for secondary education, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha
Abhiyan (RMSA), for an estimated $ 500 million. This is largely based on the analytical work
completed on secondary education, published in 2009, which focused on strategies to improve
acccess, equity, management and quality. In addition, the Bank has conducted research into the
feasibility for expanded public private partnerships at the secondary level, and has supported learning
workshops on the role of information and communication technologies at the secondary level.

Vocational education and training: Based on analysis of vocational education and training in India, the
World Bank is supporting efforts to upgrade this sector with a $280 million project. It will upgrade 400
Industrial training institutes (ITIs) as centers of excellence.

Technical and Higher education: A $300 million operation is helping improve India’s
technical/engineering education was recently approved by the World Bank, following the successful
completion of TEQUIP I. This will finance major reforms in 130 + competitively selected engineering
institutions from around the country to improve quality of education and meet the demands of a fast
growing economy. Further, several reports examine the increased demand for skilled workers in India
and its importance for national competitiveness.

Support to States: World Bank Development Policy Credits in a few states support state level
education reforms through policy dialogue and research. Studies were undertaken in Karnataka. The
World Bank is currently engaged in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Orissa. Actions
supported under these Development Policy Loans include recruitment of additional teachers,
establishment of teacher management information systems, capacity-building for school-based mass
de-worming programs for improved student health, evaluations of teacher training programs, and
research into the most cost-effective interventions to improve student learning.
In India the law addressing child labour is known as the Child Labour Amendment (Prohibition
and Regulation) Act, 2016. This law regulates the employment of children and does not allow
children below the age of 14 to work except as a child artist and in a family business.

In India the law addressing child labour is known as the Child Labour Amendment (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 2016. This law regulates the employment of children and does not allow children
below the age of 14 to work except as a child artist and in a family business.
This law also paves the way for India’s obligation to fulfill the International Labour Organizations (ILO)
Convention No. 182 which prohibits hazardous work which is likely to jeopardize children’s physical,
mental or moral health. It aims at immediate elimination of the worst forms of child labour for kids
below 18 years.
The Constitution of India, 1950 under Article 21(A) mandates free and compulsory education for all
children in the age group of 6-14 yrs. Article 24 also specifically prohibits the employment of children
below the age of fourteen years in dangerous factories which may cause them physical as well as
long term mental harm.
Every person, including the parent or guardian of children, has the fundamental duty under Article 51
of the Constitution – a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy – to provide opportunities for
education to his or her child between the age of 6-14 yrs.
The State, under Article 45 of the Constitution, also has a duty to provide free and compulsory
education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.
Under the child labour law in India, adolescents between the age of 14 and 18 are prohibited from
working in any hazardous or dangerous occupations and processes. They can only work in certain
government declared non-hazardous occupations or in a family business or as an artist.

The employer also has a wide range of duties and measures which they need to keep in mind,like
health, safety and well-being, while employing children.