The government is taking no chances for delay in making the Right to Education Bill become a practical tool. It has decided to set up a drafting group to write in stuff like making every school open its doors for 25% of the admission to low-income groups and making it compulsory to maintain records of all children in catchment areas.
These would be some of the operating clauses of the ?The Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Bill, 2008? expected to be passed by Parliament in the current budget session. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 15, 2008.
The ministry of human resource development is taking no chances and has formed a high level committee or ?drafting group? of nine members that will submit in a month ?model rules & guidelines? for the relevant clauses of the Bill. Committee members include renowned academicians along with three officials from the ministry.
The ?drafting group? has been mandated to make ?rules for carrying out the provisions of the Act and to issue guidelines to the appropriate government, local authority…for the purposes of the implementation of the Act?. These ?rules? will serve as a ?subordinate legislation? and not be part of the Act but will be a compendium to the Act to ?operationalise? it.
But already, educationists who have extended support to the Bill have questioned the viability of some of its clauses. Jyoti Bose, principal, Springdales School, Delhi, said, ?The Bill supports thevalues of inclusiveness and equal opportunity. My concerns are that it is applicable to only the 6-14 age group and does not take into account the most critical learning years are up to six. While the Bill is on the concurrent list and the state list, the responsibility of education for the 0-3 and 3-6 age groups rest with the state and not with the Center. If a child has had no exposure before the age of six, how will s/he cope suddenly from this age? Government needs to ensure that equal emphasis is given to the 0-6 age group?.
The drafting group hopes to tackle this issue through existinginitiatives such as the early childhood care and education and a national commission for protection of child rights.
Adds Bose, clause six of the Bill says it will be difficult to carry out the provision of the proposed bill within the stated period of three years. ?To me, this is doubtful. While schools such as Springdales have been admitting 15% economically disadvantaged students every year for the past 34 years, if we are to give 25% admissions to this section of society, one needs to think of emotional and social implications, parents need to be oriented and goodwill needs to be sought. This cannot be sudden?.
Anuradha Joshi, principal of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, said, ?Right to education is fine, but we have to examine quality of education. Just memorising a few lines is not education. Education has to be meaningful and it should be in the mother tongue.? Here again the drafting group first intends to get the ?right to schooling? operationalised which is what the Bill really is about before amending to introduce ?quality of education? issues.
Definition of a school laid down in clause II of the Bill is not an exhaustive definition. It says a school is one belonging to a ?specified category? but does not clearly state if religious schools such as madrasas are included.
Additionally while ?unaided schools? are included in the definition, does this include schools that have not got their land from the government? Other gaps the ?drafting group? proposes to fill in the Bill include determining a formula for and payment of reimbursement to schools for admitting 25% students from weaker sections. Moreover, the ?annual income? of the weaker sections will be answered by the rules.
Schools such as Springdales are following guidelines laid out two years ago by the Supreme Court on ?parental screening? for giving children admission that allows for instance ?preference to neighbourhood families?. The ?drafting group? intends to refer to the Supreme Court guidelines so as to ensure consistent admission criteria.
Many clauses in the Bill refer to the term ?may be prescribed?. For instance, clause IX states, ?Maintain records of children up to the age of 14 years residing within its jurisdiction as may be prescribed.? Drafting group will have to create a mechanism to maintain personal records of the student and also legitimacy of the same such as a child?s birth certificate.
A grievance raised by government teachers is that they are often pulled away from performing their teaching job to do other government duties. The rules intend to ensure that teachers? only perform ?academic duties?.
While the Right to Education Bill has explained much, such as ?norms and standards for a school? describing the student: teacher ratio for each class and the building and library infrastructure to be provided, the rules will help ensure that ?no child is left behind? a coinage for an Act passed during George W Bush?s term as American president.
