The state shall Endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years.

Constitutional mandate 1950. It shall be ensured that free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality is provided to all children up to 14 years of age before we enter the twenty first century. National Policy of Education 1986. Every child/citizen of this country has a right to free education till he completes the age of fourteen years. Unnikrishnan Judgment 1993

The constitutional provision of universal elementary education has been a salient feature of national policy since independence. A number of schemes and programmes were launched in pursuance of the emphasis embodied in the NPE, 1986 and the POA, 1992. Elementary Education is must; social justice and equity are by themselves a strong argument for providing basic education for all. It is an established fact that basic education improves the level of human well-being and significantly contributes to economic growth.

A number of schemes and programmes have been launched at all levels to ensure free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 years including District Primary Education Programme and Teacher Education. The set of seven volumes has been carved out for pre-service teachers with the hope that this may be useful to acquaint them with the elementary subjects.