RTE Act Kerala implications
AN EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF STATE EDUCATION
SECRETARIES HELD ON 28TH JANUARY – 30TH JANUARY, 2010
AT VIGYAN BHAWAN, NEW DELHI
There has been significant progress under SSA in achieving the access
goals. However, there is need for sharper focus on children in small and
sparsely populated habitations; a multi-pronged strategy to address their
age appropriate needs to be evolved, encompassing relaxation of State
norms for opening schools, wherever possible, and arrangements for
transportation or opening of residential schools. In this context he also
drew attention to eight States, namely, Assam, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu,
Delhi, Goa, Kerala, Manipur and West Bengal, which do not have an
explicitly articulated policy on opening new schools; lack of such policy
has adversely affected attainment of the goal of universal of access to
elementary education.
Nine states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat,
Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Orissa, which follow a seven
year elementary education cycle of 4+3 years, need to take immediate corrective
measures to follow a eight year elementary education cycle of 5+3 years,
especially keeping in view of the provisions of the RTE Act, 2009.
Sri James Varghese, Secretary (Education), Kerala stated that State
budgetary allocations are in the process of being finalized and that this is
the time for States to ensure adequate budgetary provisions. It was
clarified to the States that the agenda note on finances circulated indicates
the range for State share requirement, and States would be well advised to
make budgetary provisions on the basis of the financial requirements
shown, so that release of the first installment in 2010-11 under SSA is not
delayed. The States were also informed that funding pattern for RTE
additionality is under consideration.
Information and Communication Technology in School
Kerala
Kerala sought funds for development of e content. Secretary (SE&L) clarified that SIET
Kerala has not raised this issue so far. In fact SIET Kerala was released funds for development of
Learning Objects. It was further clarified that under the revised scheme, funds for upgrading of
SIETs are also being provided. A sum of Rs 100 crore for development of e content under the
nodal agency of CIET has also been earmarked under the new scheme..
Secy (SE&L) also requested the State Govts. to identify schools to be made Smart
Schools (1 in each district) so that these schools can act as pace setters. Funds amounting to Rs
25 lakhs per Smart School, would be made available. State Govts should make plans
accordingly.
December 2002
86th Amendment Act (2002) via Article 21A (Part III) seeks to make free and compulsory education a Fundamental Right for all children in the age group 6-14 years.
October 2003
A first draft of the legislation envisaged in the above Article, viz., Free and Compulsory Education for Children Bill, 2003, was prepared and posted on this website in October, 2003, inviting comments and suggestions from the public at large.
2004
Subsequently, taking into account the suggestions received on this draft, a revised draft of the Bill entitled Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2004, was prepared and posted on the http://education.nic.in website.
June 2005
The CABE (Central Advisory Board of Education) committee drafted the ‘Right to Education’ Bill and submitted to the Ministry of HRD. MHRD sent it to NAC where Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson. NAC sent the Bill to PM for his observation.
14th July 2006
The finance committee and planning commission rejected the Bill citing the lack of funds and a Model bill was sent to states for the making necessary arrangements. (Post-86th amendment, States had already cited lack of funds at State level)
19th July 2006
CACL, SAFE, NAFRE, CABE invited ILP and other organizations for a Planning meeting to discuss the impact of the Parliament action, initiate advocacy actions and set directions on what needs to be done at the district and village levels.
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 05, 2011
Staff Reporter
MALAPPURAM: The State government has appointed a sub-committee to study how to implement the Right to Education Act mooted by the Central government, Minister for Education P.K. Abdu Rabb has said.
Addressing a function organised by the district panchayat to felicitate toppers of SSLC and Plus Two examinations at the Municipal Town Hall here on Saturday, Mr. Rabb said that apart from him, Minister for Industries P.K. Kunhalikutty, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies T.M. Jacob, Minister for Finance K.M. Mani, Minister for Revenue Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, and Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph would be in the sub-committee.
Mr. Rabb said the Centre was going ahead with the implementation of the Right to Education laws.
He said the State had some limitations in implementing it at a single go.
“That is why we have appointed a sub-committee to study in detail about the ways and means of implementing the new laws,” the Minister said.
Plus Two seats
Mr. Rabb said the State government would go ahead by strengthening the system of public instruction. He said enough Plus Two seats would be ensured to meet the requirement of students who had passed SSLC examinations in Malappuram district. Despite the best efforts of the government to address the imbalance of higher secondary seats available in the northern and southern districts, the problems of students from Malabar, particularly Malappuram, continued, he said.
When students of Malappuram and neighbouring districts were running from pillar to post seeking admission for post-SSLC studies, hundreds of Plus Two seats were not filled in southern districts.
KOCHI, May 13, 2010
Call to oppose provision in RTE Act
Educationist and activist of Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) R..V.G. Menon has urged the State to raise a collective plea for the removal of a provision in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act that threatened to destruct the general education sector of the State.
Introducing the Act at a seminar organised by KSSP on “Right to Education Act and Kerala” here on Wednesday, Mr. Menon said that the provision directing unaided schools to set apart 25 per cent of their admissions to children from economically and educationally weaker sections in their neighbourhood, the fees of which would be reimbursed by the State government, would amount to facilitating the operation of unaided schools by the State government.
There was no need to rope in unaided schools as there were government and aided schools in almost every neighbourhood in the State. This, it is feared, would result in a big drain from the State's exchequer and students from government and aided schools, he said.
He called for a big campaign based on a provision in the Act stipulating that “the media of instruction shall as far as practicable be in child's mother tongue.” It gives legal backing for the decades old campaign that imposing a foreign language on children was absolute cruelty and infringement on their right.
Mr. Menon said that the stipulation in the Act directing unrecognised schools to apply for recognition instead of closing them down was dangerous. In the event, the applicants satisfied certain minimum eligibility parameters the State government could do nothing but grant them recognition without considering many crucial factors like whether there was the need for such a school in the first place and how they promoted the cause of education.
This would result in all unrecognised schools becoming recognised unaided schools giving them the added opportunity to poach 25 per cent of students from government and aided schools, Mr. Menon said.
Kavumbayi Balakrishnan, president, KSSP, welcomed the gathering and K.T. Radhakrishnan, convener of the education committee, proposed a vote of thanks.
State private schools yet to act on RTE Act
Express News Service , The New Indian ExpressKerala | Updated Oct 18, 2011 at 10:57am IST
KOCHI: More than a year after the RTE Act 2009 came into force, the rule that private schools should give admission to 25 percent of the totals seats to the weaker section is yet to be implemented in schools in the state. For, the guidelines are yet to be framed.
Lida Jacob who has been appointed Commission to study state-specific implementation of RTE Act, said that some schools in Ernakulam district have started implementing the rule.
“We are in the process of framing the guidelines. Schools need to know about the breakup - economically weaker, physically handicapped, those suffering from illnesses like AIDS, etc. It will be out soon, as October is the month of admissions. According to the rule, 25 percent of the seats in private schools should go to children from the weaker section and the disadvantaged,” she said.The District Education Office has not received any information regarding the rule, said the DEO. The management of some private schools has been offering seats to those from the weaker section as part of their policy. “We have not earmarked seats in our school. Moreover, the rule states that if there are government schools within a 3-km radius, they are bound to admit the students. Since there are government or aided schools near most private schools in Kerala, we have to look into it only if the government schools or aided schools are unable to admit such students,” said T P M Ibrahim Khan, president of Kerala CBSE School Management Association.
“We have not implemented anything on this count. Even otherwise we offer seats to the economically weaker sections and the disadvantaged, it is a school policy,” said Maya Mohan, principal, Chinmaya Vidyalaya. Same is the case with many other schools in Kochi. “As for the RTE Act, the government is yet to give us the guidelines. Moreover, allotting 25 percent of the total seats all of a sudden is not feasible,” said Molly Cyril, principal, Choice School.
RTE will take 3 more years to show results: Sibal
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 15:54 ZEE News
New Delhi: Faced with teacher shortage and other infrastructural hurdles, the government has said the ambitious Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act will take at least three more years to show results.
"It (RTE Act) is going to take three years at least. This is not something that is going to bear fruit tomorrow," HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said.
Many hurdles have to be overcome for effective implementation of the Act as the states don't have the necessary "wherewithal and infrastructure", he said.
The Act provides for free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years.
Recently, some states had approached the ministry seeking relaxation of teacher qualification norms under the Act due to shortage of teacher training institutes.
Section 23(2) of the RTE Act provides a time frame of five years for ensuring that all teachers in elementary school are trained and within this period they need to acquire professional qualification.
At a meeting of the state education ministers here on June 8, it came into light that there are over seven lakh untrained teachers in the country, the largest number of them are in Bihar, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Moreover, of the total number of untrained teachers, around 5.48 lakh are at primary level and 2.25 lakh at upper primary level.
Sibal, however, said the feedback received about the willingness of the states to implement the Act has been "very positive".
PTI
SC to give early hearing to petitions challenging RTE Act
Last Updated: Friday, January 21, 2011, 23:54 ZEE NEWS
New Delhi: With admission season underway, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to give early hearing to petitions challenging the validity of the provision of Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act which mandated 25 percent of reserved seats for economically backward sections in private unaided schools.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia agreed to give hearing on a bunch of petitions on a priority basis after taking note of the affidavit of the government which said the issue did not involve Article 15(5) of the Constitution.
The court said a three-judge bench can hear the matter if the issue of of basic principle of the Constituion was not raised.
The Bench was told that early adjudication of the matter was must in view of the ongoing admission process in schools which have to be completed by April.
The Bench hinted that the matter could be heard by the end of this month or in February after it concludes hearing on some of the part-heard matters.
The main petitioner Society for Un-aided Private Schools, Rajasthan, and a host of associations representing various private schools have questioned the validity of the Act on the ground that it impinged on their rights to run the educational institutions.
The Bench, during the last hearing, had said it would not like the matter to be referred to the Constitution Bench.
The apex court had noted that since the amendment to the Constitution which led to the enactment of the Right to Education Act has been challenged, the matter would be placed before a larger bench to decide its legal validity.
The petitioners had contended that the issues involved in the Act relate to Article 15 (5) and to Article 21(A) of the Constitution.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions which claimed the Act violated the rights of private educational institutions under Article 19(1)(g) which provided maximum autonomy to private managements to run their institutions without governmental interference.
The Act, which made free and compulsory education a fundamental right for children between 6-14 years, also mandated that private educational institutions have to reserve 25 per cent of the seats for children from poor families.
Article 21(A) says the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such a manner as the state may, by law, determine.
Article 15 (5) of the Constitution enables the state to make provisions for advancement of education for weaker sections of society relating to admission in educational institutions.
The petitions contended that the RTE Act, 2009, is "unconstitutional" and "violative" of fundamental rights.
The petitioners cited the Supreme Court's 11-judge Constitution bench ruling in TMA Pai case wherein it was ruled that maximum autonomy should be provided to private educational institutions.
According to the petitioners, Section 3 of the Act imposed an absolute mandate on all schools, including private unaided and minority institutions, to admit without any choice each and every child whosoever comes to take admission in the schools in the neighbourhood.
The provision prohibits any type of screening which is necessary for the procedure of admission, the petitioners said.
The Act was silent on the fate of the children between the age of 3-6 years which was in fact a crucial period for a child's education to commence, they said.
Further, the law did not permit the educational institutions to verify the age of the children coming for admission, the petitioner said, adding the power to expel students from the institution for unruly behaviour has been taken away by the new law.
The petitioners have challenged the provision in the law which makes it mandatory to promote all students till Class 8.
PTI
Bihar needs Rs 27,000 cr to implement RTE Act: CM
Last Updated: Monday, April 12, 2010, 19:39 ZEE NEWS
Patna: Bihar requires Rs 27,000 crore, much beyond the state's internal resources, to implement the Right to Education Act in the first year itself, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday.
"The state will require Rs 27,000 crore to implement the Act in Bihar, which is far beyond its capacity," he told a press conference here.
"Look at the figure, the budgetary outlay for Bihar for 2010-11 is Rs 53,000 crore... Can it be possible to spare Rs 27,000 crore from it," he said.
Kumar said the Centre owed the entire responsibility for implementation of the Right to Education Act in the states.
It should make available hundred per cent assistance under this head for implementing the Act, he said.
"Some states have suggested the Centre should bear 90 per cent cost of the financial burden for implementation of the Act while the Centre is ready for meeting 55 per cent of the expenses," he said.
"Cash-strapped state like Bihar can't afford even this. The Centre holds the key of financial resources. It is its duty to make available funds to meet the expenses on the Right to Education Act in toto," Kumar said.
He said the initiative to include education as a fundamental right was taken by the erstwhile NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
PTI
Budget Schools form national level alliance; demand changes in RTE Act
________________________________________
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Reprot by Rashmi r Parida; New Delhi: Faced with closure under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, budget private schools from eight states across the country today formed an association, National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA), to launch a sustained campaign for removal of major anomalies in the legislation that would preserve their survival, freedom and rights.
Announcing the launch at a press conference, CCS president Path J Shah said the formation of NISA would provide a national platform to budget private schools across the country for articulating their concerns and grievances emanating from some of the provisions of the RTE Act. 'People have freely chosen Budget Private schools, even though a free government school is easily accessible. In a democracy, we respect people's right to choose their representative, how do we denigrate the parent's right to choose a school for their children?' asked Mr Shah.
Initially, 21 budget private school leaders from eight states came together to voice their concerns regarding specific sections of the RTE Act, issues of capacity building, and governance with the goal of improving access, equity, and quality of education. The alliance nominated R C Jain as the national coordinator, and Rajesh Malhotra as the co-coordinator. At the behest of the members, Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi, agreed to function as an interim secretariat for the alliance. The members also selected state level co-coordinators who would work to implement the objective of the alliance namely, Mohammed Anwar (Andhra Pradesh), D K Singh (Bihar), R C Jain (Delhi), K D Sharma (Himachal Pradesh), Sem Haokip (Manipur), C L Rose (Rajasthan), Sunil Srivastava (Uttar Pradesh), Sunil Ghildiyal (Uttarakhand).
The meeting also decided to form five committees of NISA, namely, Finance led by Subhash C Singh, Advocacy by Lakshya and Rajesh Malhotra, Governance by RC Jain, Public Relations by Mohammed Anwar and Santosh Sharma and School Improvement by Rajesh Malhotra, Sem Haokip and Sunil Srivastava were formulated to represent the key functions of the Alliance.
"It's hugely important, the role that Budget Private Schools are playing in India. I value the formation of the alliance, because it enables these schools to influence the policy environment. Numerous studies show that Budget Private Schools outperform government schools at a fraction of the cost." James Tooley, budget private school owner and Professor of Education Policy at the University of Newcastle and chairman of 'The Beautiful Tree' trust that runs budget private schools in India.
Addressing the press Mr Jain said, "We are not opposed to the RTE which has a laudable goal of sending every child to school. But there are some major anomalies in the legislation which would become stumbling blocks in realising this objective."
Mr Jain also wanted the government to look afresh at the issue of corporal punishment, which was heavily loaded against the teachers. "There should be a code of conduct for parents and students also and teachers should not be harassed on flimsy grounds as they have a duty to discipline errant and undisciplined students."
Mr Malhotra said NISA would gradually spread to all the states in the country and become an effective platform for articulating concerns of budget private schools which were not heard while formulating the RTE Act.
Speakers at the press meet were unanimous in their contention that the RTE Act bristled with serious anomalies there was an urgent and imperative need to develop practical and realistic norms for an effective implementation of the ground-breaking legislation.
It is ironic that a large number of government schools are themselves in a pathetic state and would be found lacking in meeting these norms. The answer lies in upgrading the quality of private budget schools and incentivising them rather than forcing their closure.
RTE Act top priority of CBSE
TNN | Dec 27, 2011, 04.30AM IST
CHENNAI: Effective implementation of the Right to Education Act (RTE) and the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in schools are the top priorities of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said Vineet Joshi, chairman of CBSE .
He said CBSE has instructed all schools to implement RTE act. "The reservation of 25% of seats for less privileged students would not create a burden to the schools" he said. Joshi also said "Under the CCE pattern, it is aimed at reducing burden and pressure on students with the priority for monthly tests.
He also said CBSE is planning to shift exams online. "Online mode of exams is effective, however, there are difficulties in implementation," he said.
Goa heading for full-day schools
Gauree Malkarnekar, TNN | Dec 27, 2011, 03.59AM IST TIMES OF INDIA
PANAJI: Goa is preparing to implement full-day schooling from the academic year starting June 2012.
The state has been left with no option with the Union government's deadline to implement provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, coming to an end in April 2013 and as efforts to seek relaxations for Goa h yielded no results.
Sources said that the wheels have been set in motion to extend schooling by two-and-a-half hours in Goa to avoid facing the Union government's wrath, when the RTE implementation deadline expires at the end of the 2012-13 academic year.
Confirming the development, education director Anil Powar said, "With RTE implementation deadline expiring in 2013, we will have to begin implementation of all provisions of the RTE Act, including full-day schooling, from the new academic year. It is a law and we will have to abide by it. If we do not implement it, we can be dragged to court."
The extension of school hours is being vehemently opposed by teachers in Goa, who feel there is no need for longer school hours when the curriculum is being efficiently covered under the present system. But officials feel that teachers have no reason to refuse obeying orders to work for extended hours especially after the recent salary hike granted to them.
"The part B scales, as provided for under the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, were implemented for teachers in September this year with implementation of full-day schooling in mind. The teachers will be putting in extra hours and this was to be an incentive for them," official sources said.
Of the various provisions of the Right of Child to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, schooling in Goa will be most affected by the clause that makes seven-and-half hours of schooling mandatory.
Goa schools presently follow a five-hour schooling system and implementing the RTE provision will mean shifting from half-day schooling with half-an-hour break to full-day schooling with a one-hour interval.
The state government was in talks with Union government officials to seek relaxations on this front for Goa schools. Goa had also sought exemption from shifting to the RTE requirement of primary section covering classes I to V and upper primary section including classes VI to VIII. Goa wants to continue with its present system of classes I to IV as primary section and classes V to VIII as upper primary section. The state has not received favourable response yet.
EDITORIAL
The big fight over RTE
It is the first meaningful attempt by the Government of India to make good on a promise it made at the time of Independence itself, and yet, the RTE law has ended up in the courts. What happened and why? The India Together editorial.
12 March 2011 - The Right to Education Act should by now have been on its way to becoming a pillar of social legislation in India. It is the first meaningful attempt by the Government of India to make good on a promise it made at the time of Independence itself - to provide all its children a decent start in life, through guaranteed schooling. And yet, to read today's papers one would get the sense that there is a big fight going on about the law.
Each day we find reports of delay in the implementation of the Act by the States. Routinely we hear private school managements complaining that the law is draconian and unfair. Chief Ministers like Sheila Dikshit have also had the unpleasant experience of being ticked off quite publicly by private school managements who would rather close their close schools than operate under the new rules of the RTE law. Everywhere in the country, private schools have filed cases against the law, challenging its constitutional validity. This doesn't read like the picture of a celebrated attempt to provide social justice to millions.
What happened?
The public debates themselves should give us a clue. Most of the disagreement is over the applicability of the law to private schools. The schools that charge more than the government’s average spend per child (around Rs.12000 a year) are disagreeing.
The moral obligation of the 'rich' towards the 'poor' cannot be a burden only on the rich who happen to run schools or rich parents who currently have children in such schools.
• Imperling public education
• Unlearning the untruths
How much control should a government have over the functioning of a private institution? Can it set the fees? Can it decide who should be admitted? Can it decide what the criteria for selecting students should be? Can it decide whether teaching motivated by a philosophy of learning can take place differently in unconventional schools? What about disabled children, in particular those with learning disabilities? And so on.
There is no uniform answer to all of these, but it is possible to develop principles by which the answers should be decided. And the failure of the law is in this respect. Many of its provisions are incomplete answers to these questions. And the opposition - in the press, on the ground, in the courts - is an attempt to force the government to explain the principles publicly, and to defend them if possible. Indeed, if the government had done this in the first place, we would have a much better Act.
Two useful principles
We have seen a vast number of arguments put forward contesting the Act, but in our judgment these can be reduced to two that matter, and if these can be resolved the rest will settle themselves.
First, the law need’s to recognise there is great diversity in the type of institutions in existence. There are government-run schools; government-aided schools that rely substantially on the public exchequer; there are private schools that have entered into agreements with governments to get specific benefits (such as cheap land) in exchange for some commitment to educate the poor as well; and schools with very little inputs from the government. There is also another important truth to be recognised - most private schools cost much less than what the government spends per child in its system, but there are private schools that cost considerably more too.
What is the implication of such diversity? Simple - one set of rules for all schools will not do. We need to recognise the differences between schools, and suggest different rules for each type of school to function under the RTE Act. Some things are common to all schools - quality of education, for example, and uniformity on those fronts may be easier to achieve through standardisation, as is done with testing. But elsewhere a uniform approach will not work.
Second, we need to decide whether private schools should be established and run for profit. So far, we have lived in Wonderland on this question - knowing fully well that the majority of private institutions do seek profit as one of their goals, but pretending in law and process that this is not the case. We even have stockmarket-listed companies that are deeply invested in education, but yet we regulate them with the pretense that learning is supposed to devoid of profit. The RTE law has brought some of this dodginess to a point of conflict, forcing a resolution.
In our judgment it would be better to separate the private schools into different categories, based on the extent to which they have received government aid. The recent Supreme Court hearings already appeared to be moving in this direction. Once such separate lists are in hand, we should apply different rules to each set of schools. Those who have received more support from the government should be required to meet higher obligations for educating the poor, and those who have received less support should be less obliged. This is only fair.
The present RTE law though is bland; it makes no distinctions between schools over the extent of support received by them. This is partly because such variation does not exist in Delhi schools, by and large, whereas it is common in other states. It is said by many that this is a Delhi law being blindly extended to the other states.
Getting the 'social obligation' right
Fundamentally, through the RTE law, the State, as the guarantor of the right to education, appears to be passing the burden of ensuring this right to all types of private schools. And they're asking why, especially if enrollment in many states is already near 100 per cent? The government's answer to this question has been vague, to say the least.
Rather than address the economics of the problem, the government is telling these institutions that they have a 'moral obligation' or a 'social obligation' to educate the poor too. After all, why can't they sponsor the education of some poor kids, while they're occupied with teaching the rich ones?
On the face of it, this sounds reasonable, but it can be done better. The moral obligation of the 'rich' towards the 'poor' cannot be a burden only on the 'rich who happen to run schools' or 'rich parents who currently have children in such schools, who will in effect pay higher fees'. Don't other 'rich' people in our society, for instance, those who are past the point of having their children in schools have any moral obligations to help the poor?
It would be much smarter, and more palatable as a proposition, to have a tax or cess (indeed we already have an education cess!) applicable across the board to all rich persons, and use this money to set up a funding program for poor children to attend any school. That will make it easier for fee payments to be directly settled with the schools by lesser-off parents themselves instead of an annual proxy settlement by the government as the guarantor.
Focus on quality, and get started
The real solution to all these contested spaces is to ensure evident improvements in the quality of education provided by government schools, and to promote competition among the schools, both private and public. It is difficult to understand why governments that are broadly committed to markets as disciplining forces on the price front in so many sectors don't see it that way in education too.
One other thing is noteworthy. The Act is not merely about access and enrollment, but addresses many other aspects - quality of education, parents' participation in school administration, standards for teachers, rules for protecting child rights, and much more. Many of these new provisions are also aimed at strengthening government schools and making them more accountable for outcomes. The ongoing litigation brought by private unaided schools has nothing to do with these aspects. Nonetheless, under the cover of those challenges, the States have delayed implementation of the Act itself.
Nothing prevents the States from applying the law to government schools right away. Delaying this is simply dereliction of duty by Education departments everywhere. Given the overwhelming number of students who attend government and aided schools, we simply need to get going on plans to improve these. Keeping the focus on these institutions will be critical to the success of the law in the long run.
⊕
Ashwin Mahesh
Subramaniam Vincent
India Together
12 Mar 2011
NOT A 'SUPER COP' BUT A THINK TANK
TNN | Dec 26, 2011, 06.27AM IST
The Union Cabinet's approval to set up the National Council for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) is being seen as a step forward by both the academia and industry. Diptiman Dewan reports
TIMES OF INDIA
A HOLISTIC APPROACH Sanjay Govind Dhande Director, IIT Kanpur
We inherited the British model of higher education, which went through many distortions in the last 60 years. The only recent reference is the Higher Education Act of 1986, which is also getting outdated in the light of the evolution and explosion in higher education in the country today. Rather than taking an old model that gets outdated with every decade, it is important to work on a higher education model in keeping with the needs of the present millennium. We need a body that will react to the societal, economic, and aspirational changes in a manner that is different than under the Nehruvian model or even the act of 1986. This is what the NCHER will do.
The NCHER will result in the integration of higher education which is a pressing need in the country. It is a framework for higher education which needs to be conceived and adopted by the entire subcontinent. It states, for example, that there should be a semester system, credit based courses, a minimum number of credits required to graduate, etc. However , this does not mean that every course or university function will be defined by the NCHER. This authority will be akin to a think tank which will direct different units like regulation and quality assurance, controlling malpractices, etc, which is a holistic approach, instead of becoming a 'supercop .' In this new paradigm, the funding, regulatory, and academic coordination roles are also well defined.
There is a need to envision higher education in a holistic manner and to build an ecosystem of higher education in India. The NCHER is definitely a step forward in the right direction.
A POSITIVE STEP Rahul Mullick Partner, PwC India
The approval by the Union Cabinet for setting up the NCHER is the first step towards greater integration than what can happen through multiple bodies and autonomy for higher education institutions in the country. It is expected to enhance the development of higher education in India.
The private sector welcomes any development towards the promotion of quality education and research in the country, and in that aspect, we view this as a step forward. On the NCHER being tasked with developing a national curriculum, it is a positive step too, as the larger goal is setting higher quality standards - an urgent requirement in the higher education space in India today. The NCHER would comprise a strong list of experts representing different states and professional bodies who will bring their individual competencies and perspectives ; this, we believe, leads to a consensus driven policy-making exercise, which should support lesser roadblocks during implementation.
A consolidation of thoughts and ideas will only add value. The industry requires highly skilled manpower, but leaving aside the IIMs, IITs and a few leading institutes/colleges, the standard of students passing out of a majority of institutions today has much left to be desired . We expect this body to help improve the quality of education and focus on employability rather than just being academic . It is expected to result in greater stakeholder engagement , autonomy, and better research facilities that will all lead to innovation, which is the mantra for qualitative improvement of a nation. What should happen is an optimisation and streamlining in processes like approval and quality, which a single agency will help facilitate and implement faster.
Special training programmes designed for children of sex workers
Mrigank Tiwari, TNN | Dec 25, 2011, 11.24AM IST
TIMES OF INDIA
ALLAHABAD: Thanks to the Right to Education Act, 2009, that aims at taking education to every segment of the society and include it in the mainstream, the department of basic education is embarking upon a new exercise wherein children of sex workers in the state would be provided free and compulsory education upto class 8.
Talking to TOI, zila basic shiksha adhikari Dr Brijesh Chandra Mishra said that uptil now the department had focussed on bringing child labourers working in roadside dhabas, restaurants, small scale industrial units, etc., under one roof. However, taking cue from the decision of the West Bengal government which brought these children under the umbrella of formal education, the department decided to introduce the measure in Uttar Pradesh also. "After all, they also have equal right to education as other children of deprived sections of society," Mishra said.
The massive exercise, scheduled to start in the second half of January, would bring thousands of such children under the ambit of Right to Education Act. The department would provide them free, books, food and school dress by the government nd admitted to schools run by the district board, the official added.
When asked as to how would the department proceed in the case of children who uptil now have never undergone any formal schooling, he said that special training programmes have been designed by experts for these children. Once they attend and complete them, the department would automatically admit them to schools and make them a part of regular school process.
In the initial phase, officials including nagar shiksha adhikari, assistant basic shiksha adhikari (ABSA), block development officers and principals of different district board schools have been asked to identify such children residing in respective localities. After identifying them, the officials would persuade their parents to send their children to school and bring about a qualitative change in their lifestyle.
The department is also seeking the help of voluntary and non-government organizations (NGO) who are working in this area to provide necessary inputs about these children to the department and facilitate better communication between the families of these children and department.
Stating that the initiative has been taken by a high-level committee headed by the state chief secretary in the wake of directives issued by the Supreme Court, director, Basic Education, D C Kannaujia told TOI: "The focus of the whole exercise is to see that no child, irrespective of his/her social and economic status, is left out from the mainstream of education. In this connection, directions have been issued to concerned BSA's and other officials at the district level to implement it in right earnest."
Kapil Sibal unhappy with big states not implementing RTE
JAGRAN POST
Posted on: 19 Oct 2011, 03:59 PM
New Delhi: Voicing concern over big states dithering on Right to Education provisions, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said that it will be a "historic failure" if the Act is not implemented across the country.
"It will be a historic failure, if we have passed the Act but not implemented," Sibal said at a function here while referring to some states, which have not notified RTE rules as yet.
The legislation was enacted last year and so far, 20 states have notified RTE rules. However, big states such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal have not implemented them.
Sibal was addressing the state education ministers about ways to promote and create awareness across the country about the benefits of the RTE Act.
A nation-wide campaign would be launched from Nuh, Mewat in Haryana from November 11 for promoting RTE across schools. A message by Prime Minister about RTE to every head teacher of the school will be read out at the school assembly.
The campaign would be taken up in all 13 lakh schools across the country, the Minister said.
The states who have implemented RTE get central assistance for opening neighbourhood schools and other supporting infrastructure.
West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu told reporters that his state would be notifying the RTE rules by November end.
(Agencies)
To promote education, UP to reimburse fee to private schools under RTE
Posted on: 01 Aug 2011, 03:27 PM
JAGRAN POST
Lucknow: For the proper implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has evolved the formula of fee reimbursement to the private schools that are required to impart free education to the children belonging to the economically weaker sections of society.
As per the Section 12 (1) (C) of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, unaided schools and specified category schools shall admit at least 25 percent children hailing from financially weaker sections in class I, and provide them free education till Class VIII. These schools have to grant admission to all such students who reside within an area of a kilometer of the institute premises.
Section 12 (2) of the Act provides that expenditure incurred on the entire exercise would be reimbursed by the state government.
The state government has finalized the formula for reimbursement under the Uttar Pradesh Right to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2011.
The recognition of these institutes would be canceled if they receive fee reimbursement on the basis of fake documents. Any institution found guilty of forgery will have to deposit the double of the reimbursement amount.
For the fee reimbursement, the schools will have to open a separate bank account. The schools are required to submit the list of students and the expenditure details approved by the Basic Education Director by October 31.
The District Education Officer (DEO) will transfer the reimbursement fee in the bank account of schools after the verification. The information will be made public on the website.
JPN/Bureau
UNICEF's RTE campaign gets two lakh supporters
Posted on: 13 Jan 2011, 10:45 PM
JAGRAN POST
Mumbai, Jan 13 (Agencies): The UNICEF launched 'Awaaz Do online campaign', aimed to bring back over eight million Indian children to schools in India, has received more than two lakh supporters within three months.
"The campaign was launched to mobilise Indian society to speak up for the more than eight million children currently out of school," Angela Walker, Chief of Communication of UNICEF, said during a video-conference with journalists from various cities.
The landmark passing of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 marks a historic moment for the children of India, she said.
Prominent supporters of the campaign include Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal and actress Priyanka Chopra who is also UNICEF's national ambassador.
The campaign will conclude on January 25 in Delhi at a function attended by Sibal, Walker said.
"We are working in with the BMC in Mumbai to reach to the half a million children living in slums," Urmila Sarkar, UNICEF's Chief of Education, said.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works for children's rights, their survival, development and protection.
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