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The Right to Education Bill, passed this week by the Rajya Sabha, stops short of providing a common schooling system and discriminates between students in government schools and private unaided schools, say educationists
Educationists and some parliamentarians warn that the Right to Education Bill, in its present form, is riddled with loopholes that will only legally sanctify existing inequalities in India’s schools. Biologist Pushpa M Bhargava, who was vice-chairman of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC), has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him not to table the current Bill in the Lok Sabha, while Anil Sadagopal, member of the Central Advisory Board on Education sub-panel that prepared the first draft of the Bill, has petitioned Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar requesting her to return the Bill for further discussion. The Right to Education Bill aims to make schooling for children between six and 14 years a fundamental right. However, although titled the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, it does not alleviate the financial burden on poor parents who send their children to private schools, say educationists. Bhargava, in his letter to the prime minister, argues that the Bill will effectively lead to the government subsidising private schools instead of ensuring school education for all. Under the Bill, each private school will have to reserve 25% of its seats for children from economically weaker sections (EWS). Although the government will compensate these schools, it will be required to compensate only tuition fees. “On an average, the central and state governments spend between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 per child a year in its schools. Most private schools charge their students much more. Students in the EWS quota will have to shell out the balance amount,” says Sadagopal. Many private schools also charge students more for extra-curricular activities. These charges are not covered by the Bill. “In effect, the EWS quota students will have to battle huge peer pressure in studying,” Sadagopal adds. He also criticises the government for not detailing in the Bill how it plans to allocate resources for the Bill’s implementation. The Right to Education Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 15 last year, before the Lok Sabha elections to prevent it from lapsing. It was listed for debate and passage on Monday. But at no point during the debate did the total number of MPs present cross 60. However, a five-and-a-half-hour-long debate in the Rajya Sabha threw up a slew of questions on the funding formula and Centre-state fund-sharing arrangement for implementation of this ambitious piece of legislation. And, more importantly, the need for a common schooling system that does not discriminate between students in government schools and private unaided schools. “Once Parliament passes it, education will become a fundamental right of every child. There is no way in the world that we will not have finances,” Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal said in the upper house. Strongly advocating the passage of the Bill, Sibal added that though it was a difficult task, the government could not have waited any longer. “We have to do it. We have wasted a whole lot of time,” the minister said. The Right to Education Bill seeks to achieve 10 broad objectives including free and compulsory education, obligation on the part of the state to provide education, nature of curriculum consistent with the Constitution, quality, focus on social responsibility and teachers’ obligations, and de-bureaucratisation of admissions. Also, provision for neighbourhood schools to be set up by states within three years. “We are sitting on a great opportunity. If we lose it, I do not know what will happen to our country,” Sibal said in Parliament. A lot of work remains to be done on the Bill as the rules for making it functional have not yet been framed; each state will have to do so separately. However, once the Lok Sabha passes it, it will become law. Sibal said that although the Bill was still to become law, action would be taken against whoever violated it. Source: The Telegraph, July 23, 2009
The Indian Express, July 23 and 21, 2009
Business Standard, July 13, 2009
The Economic Times, July 12, 2009
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