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Provision for early childhood care and education for all children below the age of six years is made in:
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Answer: Option C — Article 45
Detailed Solution
Article 45 is a Directive Principle of State Policy. In its present form, it says that the State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.
The original Article 45 was different. It directed the State to provide free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years, within ten years of the commencement of the Constitution. This goal was not achieved for decades.
The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 changed this arrangement in three ways:
It added a new Article 21A, making free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14 years a Fundamental Right. The State is to provide this in the manner it may determine by law.
It changed Article 45 to focus on early childhood care and education for children below six years.
It added a new Fundamental Duty, Article 51A(k), requiring parents or guardians to provide opportunities for education to their children aged 6 to 14 years.
To give effect to Article 21A, Parliament passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which came into force on 1 April 2010. Among other things, it requires private unaided schools to reserve 25% of seats in the entry class for children from weaker and disadvantaged sections.
Early childhood care is provided through programmes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, started in 1975, which runs anganwadi centres. The National Education Policy 2020 also stresses early childhood care and education through its 5+3+3+4 structure.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Article 21A is the Fundamental Right to education for children aged 6 to 14.
- ✗Article 41 deals with the right to work, education and public assistance in certain cases.
- ✗Article 46 deals with the educational and economic interests of SCs, STs and other weaker sections.
Quick tip
Remember: Article 45 = early childhood care and education below 6 years; Article 21A = right to education for 6-14 years; Article 51A(k) = duty of parents; all from the 86th Amendment (2002).
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DPSP & Fundamental Duties — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of DPSP & Fundamental Duties, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV (Articles 36-51), borrowed from the Irish Constitution, and the Fundamental Duties in Part IV-A (Article 51A), added on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. Questions often ask which article contains a directive (Article 44 on a uniform civil code, Article 40 on village panchayats, Article 45 on early childhood care), how DPSP differ from Fundamental Rights (they cannot be enforced in court), and how many Fundamental Duties there are now (eleven, after the 86th Amendment added the eleventh in 2002). Practise the DPSP and Fundamental Duties questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.