RTE act 2010

RTE act 2010

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  RTE ACT 2010:PROBLEMS TO REDRESS Dr. AMI RATHOD Assistant Professor, Lokmanya Tialk Teachers Training College (CTE),Dabok Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth (Deemed To Be) University UDAIPUR (RAJ.) 313022 Mob-9829302820 Education is the basis for development and empowerment for every nation. It plays a vital role in understanding and participating in day to day activities of today's world. It builds one's character and plays a significant role in transmitting one's culture, beliefs and values to others in society. It helps in creating innovations and meeting the growing needs of every nation. It is the key which takes a country to remarkable heights. India has joined the elite league of few countries where education is the fundamental right for every child. This historic moment has happened on April 1, 2010 when historic Right to Education (RTE) act comes into force. The act focuses on providing elementary education compulsorily to all children in India. The Act clearly mandates a responsibility upon appropriate authorities to establish and maintain infrastructural mechanisms to facilitate the guarantee of this right. The salient features of the Right of Children for Free and Compulsory Education act are-  Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the six to 14 age group;
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   No childshall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until completion of elementary education;  A child above six years of age has not been admitted in any school or though admitted, could not complete his or her elementary education, then, he or she shall be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age; Provided that where a child is directly admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age, then, he or she shall, in order to be at par with others, have a right to receive special training, in such manner, and within such time- limits, as may be prescribed: Provided further that a child so admitted to elementary education shall be entitled to free education till completion of elementary education even after fourteen years.  Proof of age for admission: For the purposes of admission to elementary education. The age of a child shall be determined on the basis of the birth certificate issued in accordance with the provisions of the Births. Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1856 or on the basis of such other document, as may be prescribed. No child shall be denied admission in a school for lack of age proof;  A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a certificate;  Calls for a fixed student-teacher ratio;  Will apply to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir;  Provides for 25 percent reservation for economically disadvantaged communities in admission to Class One in all private schools;  Mandates improvement in quality of education;  School teachers will need adequate professional degree within five years or else will lose job;
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   School infrastructure(where there is problem) to be improved in three years, else recognition cancelled;  Financial burden will be shared between state and central government; The mere proclamation of a right cannot tantamount to its fulfillment, and its “actual enjoyment” is possible only when effective institutions are in place to guarantee that right. A right to education is ineffective in the absence of a school to ensure the enrollment of a child and to impart free, elementary education. By taking on the duty to establish a school in every neighborhood, and stipulating conditions to aid the functioning of such schools, the Government has taken the first step in the right direction. Having stated that, there exist a number of problematic areas which need redressal in the scheme of this legislation.  Clarity is missing even on the basic under- standing of who is a child. The United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) defines any individual below 18 years of age as a child. While the Juvenile Justice Act in our country considers persons below 14 years of age to be children, the RTE Act narrows the definition down to persons between six to 14 years.  Unnikrishnan emphatically proclaimed the right of all children to elementary education till the age of 14, subsequent legislations and even the Constitutional Amendment have diluted its ambit and confined free and elementary education to children between six and fourteen.  In failing to realize the right of children to free and compulsory education, the State has not taken on board the acute social milieu which has hitherto presented problems in ensuring elementary education. In order to cope with the burgeoning problem of child labor, it is important to ensure that children below the age of six are also brought within the targets of the Act.  Significantly, there is no effective mechanism to enforce the right guaranteed under the Act. As provisions stated in the preceding segments indicate, a local
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  authority having jurisdictionmay take up the complaint. The provisions fail to identify the correct authority or State agency that will hear grievances and enforce the right.  Further, the provisions result in a situation where the local authorities are both the implementing functionaries (in school management, curriculum development etc) and grievance redressal institutions. Clearly, there would be several instances where interests conflict, which might result in an inappropriate enforcement of the right. Consequently, the State’s correlative duty to guarantee the enjoyment of the right is considerably affected in the absence of effective enforcement mechanisms.  Whereas the Act guarantees a right to seek transfer to any other school where the child is required to move from the one in his/her neighborhood, there are no measures to ensure that such a transfer will be a smooth transition for the child. In this regard, the Act seems blissfully unaware of the major phenomenon of labor migration between rural and urban areas; consequent to the transfer of their migrant laborer-parents, children would need specially adapted curricula that would serve to their linguistic and cultural requirements. It is also desired that adequate residential facilities be provided to children if they so require upon migration to an urban area.  The Act lists key norms and standards that would need to be adhered to by all schools, failing which no school may be established. This provision is contradicted when the government gives three more years after the Act takes effect to schools that do not comply with the norms as specified in the schedule. To add to this, the central government may rule to change the schedule by adding or even omitting norms and standards. It is acceptable if items or qualifications are added to the existing parameters; it is an- other matter that even now the government is unable to set the basic minimum requirements for a school.
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   There isno clarity on who will take the lead in financing the Act. Ideally, the central government ought to be shouldering this duty in the light of the poor fiscal situation in most states. Acknowledging this reality, the Act notes that the states may seek a predetermined percentage of expenditure as grants-in-aid from the central government, based on the recommendations of the finance commission on assessment of additional resource requirements for any state. Be that as it may, the Act reveals an obvious contradiction when, on the one hand, it suggests that both the union and state governments have concurrent responsibility to finance the Act, with the centre preparing estimates of capital and recurring expenditure under the Act.  Any indicative benchmarks for teachers’ salary are a significant oversight in the Act. Further, while the Act suggests that no teacher should be engaged in any non-educational tasks, it excludes their engagement in the population census, duties pertaining to disaster relief and elections at various levels. Not only does the act turn a blind eye to the workload and the absence of motivation among teachers, it forbids them from taking private tuitions.  One of the most glaring deficiencies in the Act is the complete absence of any qualitative enforcement mechanisms during the period of completing elementary education. While the Act espouses a no-detention policy, such a provision is not backed by any steps to measure the quality and standard of education (such as child learning levels, competencies etc). A passing reference to ensuring ‘good quality’ education is enlisted as one of the duties of a school under the Act; nonetheless, the only standards and norms under the Schedule to the Act are measured by the number of instruction hours in a year.  Even the duties of a teacher are assessed in terms of punctuality and attendance, and there is no attempt to secure qualitative learning outcomes from elementary education. In the absence of any student or faculty assessment, it is not difficult to conclude that the system of elementary education would produce students who are below par, as has been substantiated by a recent NCERT
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  study.Further, the Actalso takes away the option of parents/guardians to hold back their children in school, until core competencies are acquired. The Act must enforce stop-gap measures to maintain the level of enrollment and quality in elementary education. ----------------------------------------------------------
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  study.Further, the Actalso takes away the option of parents/guardians to hold back their children in school, until core competencies are acquired. The Act must enforce stop-gap measures to maintain the level of enrollment and quality in elementary education. ----------------------------------------------------------