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Education is important not only for the full development of one's personality , but also for the sustained growth of the nation. Elementary education in India, therefore, is the foundation on which the development of every citizen and the nation as a whole hinges. But making primary education available for all in India has also been one of the major challenges for the government. Moreover, the quality of elementary education in India has also been a major cause of worry for the government.

In fact, making elementary education in India accessible, universal and relevant has been a goal since the eighth five-year plan. Elementary education in India means eight years of schooling from the age of six. The government has made elementary education compulsory and free. But, the goal of universal elementary education in India has been very difficult to achieve till now. Therefore it has introduced innovative ways of universalizing elementary education in India. After the district primary education programme (DPEP) of 1994, the govt. has now launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan or SSA. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was launched in 2001 to universalize and improve the quality of elementary education in India through community ownership of elementary education. In order to effectively decentralize the management, it has involved Panchayati Raj institutions, school management committees, village and urban slum level education committees, parents teachers associations, mother teacher associations, tribal autonomous councils and other grassroots level structures. SSA, apart from being a programme with clear time frame for elementary education, also offers opportunities to the states to develop their own vision of elementary education. It has set 2007 as the deadline for providing primary education in India and 2010 as the deadline for providing useful and relevant elementary education to all children in the 6 to 14 age group, but still now it has not been achieved. Therefore right to education act has been introduced.