Evolution of education policy in India and its impact on government initiative

Formal education has acquired an important place in the consciousness of current societies. There is now clear recognition that education beyond what is available as a part of the community is needed and structures have been set up for creating opportunities for this purpose. The drive and commitment to educate all has been a part of the political commitment of the Independence movement as well as a major agenda of social reformers and activists. The nature and manner of making this available has seen many formats and areas of focus. The policy discourse before Independence and the structures to decide the priorities and work with them are interesting in themselves, but here we look at two major policy statements, the 1968 policy and the 1986 policy, the spirit they display and the programmes of actions they have generated. We then also briefly look at the recent attempts to formulate a new policy statement. This exploration and analysis of the policy holds rich possibilities, but the basic purpose of this article is to provide a background to the public (read Government) efforts, programmes of action and schemes since the 90s. The intense governmental interventions subsequent to the first comprehensive programme of action brought out in 1992 and the semi-government interventions before that have acquired prominence in the minds of people and established frameworks to structure and transform education