Education for all has remained a distant dream for most developing nations
across the globe. The will to commit adequate resources ??? both human and
financial to this cause was conspicuous by its absence till the very last decade
of the previous century. For India, as well as for much of the developing world,
the Jomtien Conference of 1990, proved a turning point. True, our National
Policy on Education was formulated in 1986 and the necessity to address the
Herculean task of universalizing elementary education was underscored therein.
Yet, the Jomtien Conference and the Plan of Action prepared in 1992, led to a
major galvanization of our