Basic Education
Education is a basic human right and has been recognized as numerous human rights treaties have reaffirmed this right and have supported entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children. Education must be available for, accessible to and inclusive of all children. Education needs to be child-centered, relevant and embrace a broad curriculum, and be appropriately resourced and monitored. Education must be provided in a way that is consistent with human rights, equal respect for culture, religion and language and free from all forms of violence.
The scenario of education in the area seems to be characterized by the persistence of illiteracy, low level of enrolment in formal education and high dropouts, specifically for girls. GCK has been implementing programmes for basic education to improve the educational status of the area. The goal of the programme is to develop a programme of quality education for all children (universal coverage) through community participation and empowerment of mainstream education systems in the villages of the programme area. It emphasizes on ensuring enrolment and retention of children in schools, facilitating access to quality of education, and ensuring community participation in the programme. GCK realizes that in order to establish a reliable and strong quality education system other actors also have to be contacted. These actors include the ‘Education Department’ of the State of Rajasthan and the ‘Woman and Child Development Agency’ of the state, which have taken initiatives like the ‘District Primary Education Programme’ and the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ (special campaign to enroll all children in school).