Education Act Notified: Will it work?
An act passed by parliament as early as 2002, and amended last in 2009, was finally notified by the Government of India. It is 'The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009'.
APRIL 1 WAS significant in the history of modern India. An act passed by parliament as early as 2002, and amended last in 2009, was finally notified by the Government of India. It is "The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009". With this notification, India joins Chile and Bangladesh to provide compulsory and free education to its children anywhere in the world. The drop-out statistics are also shocking: By class 5th, this rate is 25% and by class 8, it touches 50%. To meet the objectives of the act, the nation will need 510,000 more trained teachers. With the Central Government agreeing to give about 55% of the total expenses (estimated to be 1,71,000 crore INR, source Hindustan Times Mumbai, dtd. 02/04/2010), the program seems to be within the grasp of the country over the next five years. The remaining amount will have to be borne by state governments and other local bodies. As per the provisions of the act: a) Every school must have one TRAINED teacher per 30 studentsb) All children have to be compulsorily promoted to the next higher class up to the eighth standard (the current upper limit of "Elementary Education" as defined by the Ministry of HRD and the constitution).c) Training of untrained teachers has to be completed within 5 years.d) Building of new schools and upgradation of existing ones to meet the provisions of the law and the increased intake of children to be completed within 3 years.e) Students from poor classes will also be covered, and will have to be given free education even beyond the age of 14 till they complete school.f) Dropped out students and those who have never attended school should be admitted to the class that is appropriate for their age and given free education till they complete elementary education, even if they cross the age of 14.g) Special categories of students such as those from S.C./S.T./ O.B.C. etc. will not be discriminated against. h) If a child needs to change his/her school due to any reason, a transfer certificate has to be prepared immediately by the school that the child is leaving, and if the school fails to do so, the principal or the relevant authority can be proceeded against by the government; further, that if the child does not have the correct transfer certificate in his/her possession, the school to which the child is transferring cannot delay his/her admission.i)This is the most important proviso: all semi-private and private schools will also have to provide 25% of their seats to poor children who wish to avail of free education.j) Schools cannot charge capitation fees for admitting children to elementary classes. Further, no screening tests will be permitted for admission to the school, and those in contravention will have to pay a penalty of Rs. 25000 in the first instance, and Rs. 50000 if they are caught the second time.k) No child shall be denied admission for lack of proof of age.l) no child can be held back in any class or expelled from school till elementary education has been completed.m) No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment during their years of education. Will the country be able to come out of it's ennui and make the Act work? This is where the problems come in. To take the problem of finances: every year, the nation will need 34000 crores of rupees. 40% of this works out to about 13600 Cr. INR. During the year 2010-11, the Central Government has allocated just Rs. 15000 crores. This means a shortfall of about 5400 Cr. INR. Even if the shortfall were to be met, state authorities maintain that even that will be insufficient: they are demanding much more money to meet the contingency requirements. And, I think, they are justified, as they have to not just appoint thousands of teachers, but also create new schools, repair existing ones, modify the rest, and so on. The District Information Report on existing schools has painted a bleak picture of the existing schools imparting elementary education: Nearly 60% of the 1.3 million schools surveyed had no electricity; 50% had no boundary walls; 47% had no toilets for girls. Teacher absenteeism is also a scourge. It is estimated that over 25% of the already appointed teachers are absent from school for most days during the academic year. An even larger problem is that many of the teachers who ARE present aren't teaching, but doing other things within the premises of the school. Who will monitor these teachers? Finally, there is one more hurdle that seems insurmountable: many parents in India are themselves illiterate and unaware that their children have now the unassailable right to be educated. How will they be integrated into the mainstream? Over the last several years, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) , the Government of India's flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, has been doing a lot to better the condition of the children of India. I wish them, and other similar ventures all the best. UNESCO, the United Nations' body that governs educational rights globally, states in its constitution that it believes in 'full and equal opportunities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of objective truth and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge".So be it.
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