Posted by Ninad on April 26, 2010 under All Posts | 
With the Right to Education becoming a fundamental right, a question asked by many educationist is — How much will it cost the government to implement? And, where will it get all the money?
It has been estimated that the government will require around Rs. 171,000 crores over the next five years.
The Thirteenth Finance Commission has provided for Rs. 25,000 crores to the States over five years for implementation of Right to Education. This is over and above allocations for centrally sponsored schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, teacher education and the mid-day meal scheme, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
For the current year, the allocation is Rs. 15,000 crores and the centre will bear upto 55 per cent of this.
Already, many State governments have raised a hue and cry over this stating that they do not have money to implement and comply with the Right to Education. They have asked the Central government to provide more funds.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for HRD have clearly stated that money constraints will not derail Right to Education. This clearly shows intent on the part of the government.
However, there is still a yawning gap. Who will fill it?
Posted by Ninad on April 19, 2010 under All Posts |
With the Right to Education Act, demand for teachers in primary schools will increase dramatically.
It is estimated that around 510,000 additional teachers are required within the next couple of years.
In addition to this, there are around 120,000 primary schools in the country with only one teacher. If we need to merely add one more teacher in each of these schools to improve the learning experience, there will an additional demand for 120,000 teachers.
Where will these schools get so many teachers?
Also, the shortfall for teachers is higher in the rural sector. So, how will schools in the rural sector get so many teachers?
Over the past so many years, the teaching profession has not managed to attract the best of talent partly due to poor pay and also due to poor working conditions.
Due to the huge demand for teachers, it is possible that the compensation levels of teachers may go up, especially in private schools. Schools in cities are witnessing this phenomenon where the salaries for teachers are rising every year and schools are faced with attrition.
Many school managements complain that the teacher training imparted to teachers is woefully inadequate and the schools need to re-train the qualified teachers.
Hence, along with setting up large number of schools, government needs to push the agenda on setting up a large number of teacher training colleges. Indeed, the government should push for a PPP model in teacher training – lest we face a scenario of schools sans teachers!
Posted by Ninad on April 12, 2010 under All Posts |
Mark Twain has popularized this term “Lies, damned lies and statistics”.
With the right to education at primary level becoming a fundamental right, it is interesting to see some statistics connected to primary education in India (source: HRD Ministry). So, read on…
- Total number of children in 6-14 age group in India eligible for primary education: 19 million
- Number of children in the 6-14 age group who do not go to school: 8 million
- Drop out ratios:
- 25% by class V
- 50% by class VIII
- Number of primary schools in India with only one teacher: 120,000
These are staggering numbers. Around 40 per cent of eligible children (8 m) do not go to school.
Here are some more statistics (source: 2008-09 District Information System for Education) of the survey of 1.29 million government and private schools.
- Over 60 per cent did not have electricity
- 46.4 per cent did not have toilets for girls
- 50 per cent did not have boundary walls to ensure safety for students.
So, will the Right to Education change all this?
The gap is so huge that no amount of legislation can change this scenario in a short span of time. It will require consistent commitment from the government and citizens to increase the access and quality of primary education.
Because of the Right to Education law, more funds will certainly get allocated to schools and it will help in raising the capacity.
Posted by Ninad on April 5, 2010 under All Posts |
It’s been a long wait. Nine years!
The Constitution was amended nine years back to make education a fundamental right. On 1st April, 2010, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act became a law. India has now joined a few countries like Chile and Bangladesh which ensure compulsory education.
“I am what I am today because of education” – this is what Dr, Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India stated in his address to the nation – an unprecedented gesture.
Undoubtedly, it is a historic moment.
However, there are a lot of doubts on how it will be implemented.
Where are the teachers? Despite the bravado, how will the government fund a total spend of Rs. 171,000 crores (approx. USD) 38 bn? Why cover private unaided schools with an obligation of 25 per cent reservation for the underprivileged?
There are many such questions.
However, there is no doubt that education is now in the forefront of the national agenda. There is a law to back it and the Prime Minister himself had addressed the nation on this issue.
If not anything else, this visibility will ensure that Education now takes its rightful centre-stage in all policy decision-making.
Posted by Ninad on August 17, 2009 under All Posts |
So, what is the implication of this Bill? Will it improve the quality and availability of education?
The Bill is a step in the right direction. Free and compulsory education should be available to all children. If we are unable to provide it even after 62 years of Independence, we are failing in our duty to the next generation.
Here are some of my specific views on the Bill:
- It covers children between 6-14 years. Why has it stopped at age 14? Shouldn’t it have covered a student until he/she completes Class X?
- The government will have to build a large number of schools to comply with the provisions of the law. Rather than increase the number of schools, shouldn’t it focus more on improving the quality of present schools?
- No screening during admission process even in private schools is fraught with many complications and there should be some method of exclusion. It is incorrect to apply one common rule to all schools and probably disrupt the existing ethos and culture
- Concept of neighborhood schools is good and workable, when there are enough number of schools. We are reeling under a tremendous overall shortage of good quality schools and hence, students are forced to travel some distance to avail of good quality education.
- Imposing 25% quota for disadvantaged students on private schools will simply create a backlash. Should private schools be forced to accept social inclusion when there isn’t any framework for them?
- Disallowing a teacher to engage in any private tuition is truly unfair. If teachers were paid well, they wouldn’t have resorted to tuitions in the first place. A more logical restriction could have been to restrict teachers from giving tuitions to the students of the school where they teach.
There are many more provisions which will have a deep impact on the education of future generations. Will this Bill have a salutary effect on the overall education industry or will it be the beginning of the end of the last bastion of good education – private schools?
Posted by Ninad on August 10, 2009 under All Posts |
The Rajya Sabha passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009 on 20th July, 2009 and subsequently, the Lok Sabha passed the Bill by a voice vote on 4th August, 2009. This will become a law once assent is granted by the President.
Some of the important features of this Bill are:
- Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the 6 to 14 age group
- Every child aged 6 to 14, however poor, can demand schooling from a designated government officer for a prescribed neighbourhood school
- Within 3 years of the law’s enactment, at least one school must come up in the neighbourhood. If no private school comes up, government must set up a school
- 25 percent reservation for poor and disadvantaged children from neighbourhood in all private schools
- No screening procedure for child or parent during admission process
Capitation fee cannot be collected during admission
- No child admitted in a school can be held back or expelled till completion of elementary education (class eight)
- All schools (other than unaided schools) will have to form a school management committee comprising of parents and teachers for effective governance (50 per cent the members of this committee should be women)
- No teacher can engage in private tuition
Mahatma Gandhi had spoken about the need for universalisation of elementary education in 1937.
Article 21A was inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 to provide for free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right. It has taken more than eight years for this to become a legislation.
The right to education is recognised as a human right by the United Nations. It is understood to establish an entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all children, as well as equitable access to higher education, and a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education. In addition to these, access to education provisions, the right to education encompasses also the obligation to eliminate discrimination at all levels of the educational system, to set minimum standards and to improve quality.
The right to education is enshrined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The right to education has also been reaffirmed in the 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, 1st Protocol of ECHR and the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
What is the impact of the Right to Education Bill passed by the Lok Sabha? Will it really help the cause of elementary education?
Read my views in the next BLOG…
