Introduction
‘Education’ is the process of gaining knowledge on various subjects of human concern. In common perception, education refers to school education. Any child’s mental growth largely depends on the quality of education that he or she gets.
Importance of Education
Education is very important for the development of a child’s mental abilities. Not only education but the whole process of education that a child goes through is essential for his or her mental, physical, and social development.
Schools and colleges are an integral part of education. They offer education to everyone without any discrimination and with equal treatment. It is only during early school education that a child gains very basic knowledge of essential subjects like language, math, science, etc. Though small, nevertheless, the course marks the foundation for a child’s future growth.
Education provides a vision of the future and the wings to achieve it. It is a lifelong process that develops a person mentally and also makes him or her a more sensible human being.
Education has the potential to elevate a society’s standard of living by helping it fight poverty, unemployment, and general unrest. An educated society often lives peacefully and contributes profitably to the growth of the nation.
Education: A Fundamental Right
Realizing the importance of education in the growth of an individual, society, and the nation as a whole, the Government of India passed an Act called "Right to Education". The Act came into effect on April 1, 2010, mandating free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of six and fourteen as a Fundamental Right.
The Act made education both free and compulsory. Free Education means that no child will be required to pay any fee for continuing education in schools supported by the government. This, however, doesn’t apply to private schools, where a child is enrolled by his or her parents.
The term ‘compulsory education’ puts an obligation on the state and relevant agencies to ensure that no child in the defined age group is left without education. It aims to tackle the school dropout rate and illiteracy.
Education: A Global Concern
The World Community also recognizes the right to Education as a human right. The world's powers have come together to make primary and secondary education accessible to all.
The International Law of the Right to Education doesn’t specifically apply to only children but to all individuals of all age groups, though children could be the main beneficiaries.
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 4 deals with education. SDG-4 enlists seven target objectives, as given in the bulleted list below:
To ensure, by 2030, that all the children get a free and quality education (primary and secondary).
To ensure pre-primary education by 2030 for every boy and girl.
To eliminate any existing gender disparity in high-level university education and also make it accessible.
To increase the number of individuals with vocational skills and entrepreneurial abilities by 2030.
Eliminating gender inequality in education at all levels by 2030
By 2030, we will ensure that every youth and adult, irrespective of gender, gets educated.
To skill all individuals by 2030 to make them able to promote Sustainable Development Goals.
Conclusion: Education is a tool to tackle many fundamental problems like poverty, unemployment, crime rate, gender disparity, etc. An educated person is like a pillar that firmly supports his or her family as well as society and the nation. Education in India has been made a Fundamental right, and it is undisputedly the most significant of all the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution.
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