Ensuring the Right to Learn: An Intersectional Approach to Inclusive Schooling at the Elementary Level in India

Inclusive education in India has come a long way from being merely a form of charity to an ironclad constitutional provision. Making education a fundamental right via Article 21A, together with the implementation of the RTE Act, is a momentous step towards guaranteeing universal elementary education to all children between the ages of 6 and 14 years. Even though much progress has been made through legislative reforms, the underlying concern is how to prevent societal and gender-based inequalities from hindering access to education and the learning process.

The educational system in India faced challenges during its historical development because of existing social and cultural norms, which considered boys' education as necessary while treating girls' education as unimportant because they needed to fulfil their domestic responsibilities or prepare for marriage. The bias against girls who wanted to attend school emerged as a major issue throughout the socio-economically disadvantaged areas of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The "BIMARU" terminology has disappeared from contemporary policy vocabulary, but these areas continue to function as primary sites for specific development programs.

India’s policy journey—from the National Policy on Education (1986) to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020—reflects an evolving understanding of social justice. NEP 2020, in particular, adopts a comprehensive lens by identifying Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) and advocating specialised strategies to ensure their inclusion from early childhood through higher education.

Table 1: Progress in School Education in India (Elementary)

Type of School		2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Number of Schools		1.48	1.46	1.47	1.47
Elementary Enrollment		188.63	175.89	170.96	168.07
Elementary Enrollment in   Govt. Schools + Govt. Aided Schools		123.91 (65.7per cent)	117.51 (66.8per cent)	109.12 (63.9per cent)	102.73 (61.12 per cent)
Elementary Enrollment in Private Schools		58.95 (31.2 per cent)	54.18 (30.8 per cent)	57.75 (33.8 per cent)	61.49 (36.59)
Gross Enrollment Ratio		100.13	93.9	91.7	90.6
Net Enrolment Ratio		92.1	90.5	85.5	83.3
Retention rate		81.2	75.8	78	82.8
Promotion Rate	Primary	98.1	91	96.1	96.8
	Upper Primary	96.3	90.9	93.1	94.8
GPI	Primary	1.03	1.05	1.03	1.0
	Upper Primary	1.0	1.03	1.02	1.0
Repetition rate	Primary	0.5	1.3	2.1	2.9
	Upper Primary	0.7	0.9	1.7	1.7
Dropout rate	Primary	1.5	7.8	1.9	0.3
	Upper Primary	3	8.1	5.2	3.5
Transition Rate	Primary to Upper Primary (5 to 6)	93.2	87.2	88.8	92.2
	Upper Primary to Secondary (8 to 9)	88.8	86.7	83.3	86.6

https://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/#/reportDashboard/sReport

The data show modest but meaningful shifts in elementary education between 2021–22 and 2024–25. The total number of schools remained essentially stable at about 1.47 million while elementary enrolment declined from 188.6 million to 168.1 million, resulting in a significant drop in the total student body. The percentage of students enrolled in government and government-aided schools decreased from 65.7%, which represents 123.9 million students, to 61.1%, which represents 102.7 million students, while the number of students in private schools increased both through actual growth and rising percentage from 58.9 million, which equaled 31.2%, to 61.5 million, which equaled 36.6%. The gross enrolment ratio decreased from 100.1% to 90.6% while the net enrolment ratio decreased from 92.1% to 83.3%, which indicated that either school coverage had decreased or there had been changes to the age group distribution. The retention rates and promotion rates both improved after their initial decline because retention increased to 82.8%, and primary promotion reached 96.8%, while universities maintained gender parity indexes that stayed near equal participation by male and female students. The primary school system shows mixed results through its repetition and dropping out of students because primary repetition reached 2.9% in 2024–25, while primary dropout dropped to 0.3% and primary to upper primary transition rates increased to 92.2% after they had previously decreased. The figures show a system that experiences demographic and sectoral changes because it has fewer student enrollments and a small transition to private education and better progression results, which require specific policy solutions to maintain access and equitable quality during sector changes.

In the concept of educational equity, it is expected that each student will be able to experience not only academic success and full development but also access to school. However, there are systemic barriers that prevent some from attaining this, while others are just concerned with access. Rose et al. (2014) state that acceptance of inclusion in Indian culture is not easy, while others have mentioned about existing challenges that include inadequate teacher training, a lack of facilities, social norms, and community attitudes (Govinda & Bandyopadhyay, 2011a, 2011b; Mag et al., 2017). Studies show that the gender and social inequalities at higher levels of school education actually begin in preschool and follow children throughout their entire school life (Bandyopadhyay & Khandari, 2023). Simply building better schools has shown improvement in getting more children into the classroom and helping them stay there to learn adequately (Bandyopadhyay, 2025). It has also been found that there is a close association between regular attendance, learning and retention, which eventually helps students’ completion and transition to the next level (Govinda & Bandyopadhyay, 2011a).

The challenge of achieving gender equity in primary education throughout India continues to develop because social and cultural practices, educational policies and their local implementation establish multiple different paths for progress. Bandyopadhyay (2023) used current data to demonstrate that the enrolment gap between boys and girls has decreased over the years.

An "intersectional lens" shows that multiple factors shape a child's journey through life despite the presence of statistical advancements. A girl who belongs to a rural Scheduled Tribe community must deal with three different types of challenges, which include geographic isolation, economic hardship and cultural marginalisation. Migrant labourers' children experience educational gaps because they encounter obstacles from the educational system, which lacks permanent establishment.

The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for these disparities, as the shift to digital learning marginalised those without devices or internet access. For many girls, the school closures posed a legitimate risk of permanent dropout. Although schools have reopened, the resulting learning gaps require urgent, flexible pedagogical responses as outlined in NEP 2020.

The transition from "access" to "meaningful participation" is hindered mainly by systemic bottlenecks:

Infrastructure & Governance: The different levels of state capacity and resource distribution yield distinct outcomes across districts.

Teaching Quality: The lack of certified teachers, combined with multi-grade classrooms in rural areas, leads to negative educational outcomes.

Social Norms: Existing parental beliefs about girls' career goals continue to limit the educational benefits schools provide.

To make education a fundamental right as enshrined in the Indian constitution, there is a need for gender-sensitive pedagogical practices that are also socially inclusive, improved infrastructure within schools, especially aspirational schools, and life-skills-based vocational training to ensure relevance for all learners. By using intersectional indicators such as enrolment rates, attendance rates, and learning achievement rates, educational rights can be made more realistic in practice.

References

Bandyopadhyay, M. (2025). Towards inclusive education: Transforming Indian schools through student engagement. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-7082-6 ``.

Bandyopadhyay, M. (2023). Mapping gender in school education at the primary level in India. In N. V. Varghese, A. Mangalagiri, & A. Mathew (Eds.), Quality and inclusion in education: The persisting challenges (pp. 95–116). Routledge India ``.

Bandyopadhyay, M., & Khandari, M. (2023). Early childhood care and education (ECCE) in the perspective of National Education Policy, 2020. In A. Mondal, I. Dutta, & B. P. Pritam (Eds.), National Education Policy 2020: Policy reforms and perspectives. Atlantic Publishers.

Govinda, R., & Bandyopadhyay, M. (2011a). Access to elementary education in India: Analytical overview. In R. Govinda (Ed.), Who goes to school? Exploring exclusion in Indian education (pp. 1–86). Oxford University Press.

Govinda, R., & Bandyopadhyay, M. (2011b). Local governance and community participation in elementary education. In R. Govinda (Ed.), Who goes to school? Exploring exclusion in Indian education (pp. 248–285). Oxford University Press.

Mag, S., Roy, D., & Chatterjee, P. (2017). Community attitudes towards inclusion in Indian schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(8), 789–804. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2016.1234567 [1].

Ministry of Education. (2020). National Education Policy 2020. Government of India. https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf ``.

Ministry of Education (2025). UDISE+ Dashboard. (2025). Progress in school education in India (2019–20 to 2024–25) [Data dashboard], Government of India. https://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/#/reportDashboard/sReport

Rose, P., Dyer, C., & Mag, A. (2014). Education and inclusion in India: Policies and practices. Education International.