Under which Constitutional Amendment Act of India was the subject of education transferred from the State List to the Concurrent List?

Introduction / Context:
This question checks your knowledge of constitutional amendments and the distribution of legislative subjects between the Union and the States in India. Education today appears in the Concurrent List, meaning both Parliament and State Legislatures can make laws on it. Originally, however, education was in the State List and was later shifted during a major amendment passed in the period of Emergency. Remembering which amendment did this is a common test point in exams on Indian polity.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The subject involved is education.
- Education was initially on the State List.
- It was later transferred to the Concurrent List.
- The question asks which specific Constitutional Amendment Act brought about this change.

Concept / Approach:
The key concept is the Forty second Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976. This amendment is sometimes called a mini constitution because it made many wide ranging changes. Among these changes, five subjects were shifted from the State List to the Concurrent List, and education was one of them. So the right approach is to recall the list of subjects shifted by this amendment rather than trying to guess from the amendment numbers alone.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that education used to be a State subject under the Constitution.Step 2: Remember that during the Emergency, the Forty second Amendment Act of 1976 was passed, which altered the Seventh Schedule.Step 3: This amendment shifted five subjects education, forests, protection of wild animals and birds, weights and measures, and administration of justice from the State List to the Concurrent List.Step 4: Match this information with the options. Only the Forty second Amendment Act of 1976 fits this description.Step 5: Confirm that no other amendment listed in the options is linked with moving education to the Concurrent List.

Verification / Alternative check:
Another way to verify is to use keyword association. Many students remember the Forty second Amendment as the one that changed the Preamble, enlarged Fundamental Duties and adjusted the centre state balance by enlarging the Concurrent List. Thinking of education alongside forests and protection of wildlife as subjects moved out of exclusive state control helps fix this amendment in memory. None of the other amendments named in the options is known for such a wide set of structural changes.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
- Forty fourth Amendment Act of 1978: This amendment is known mainly for restoring certain Fundamental Rights and modifying some Emergency provisions, not for shifting education between lists.
- Twenty fourth Amendment Act of 1971: This amendment clarified the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution itself, especially after the Supreme Court judgment in the Golaknath case.
- Twenty fifth Amendment Act of 1971: This dealt largely with the relationship between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles in the context of property and compensation.
- Fortieth Amendment Act of 1976: This amendment mainly involved issues such as nationalisation and territorial waters and is not related to the change in the status of education.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners confuse the Forty second and Forty fourth Amendments because both are important and occurred close together in time. Another error is to think that any amendment around the mid nineteen seventies might have done this, leading to random guessing among the numbers. A good strategy is to remember a simple phrase such as Forty second for big structural changes, including movement of education to the Concurrent List, and Forty fourth for correcting excesses of the Emergency period.

Final Answer:
The subject of education was transferred from the State List to the Concurrent List by the Forty second Amendment Act of 1976.