Over six months after it was first introduced in the Rajya Sabha, the long awaited Right to Education Bill, 2008 will finally be tabled in the Lower House next week putting the ambitious legislation closer to the final stage of implementation. The long pending legislation promises free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 and has been on the UPA government?s agenda since its first term. Human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal had also announced it as part of his 100-day agenda for the ministry.
The legislation will provide for an appellate authority in the form of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and will also include the clause to make it compulsory for private schools to reserve 25% seats for needy children. NCPCR has been decided upon as the sole grievance redressal authority instead of the National Advisory Council of experts proposed by the HRD ministry earlier.
The legislation, however, will stop short of clearly spelling out the Centre-state fund-sharing arrangement for implementation of the legislation?s provisions.
While the Centre-state fund-sharing arrangement will be routed through the Finance Commission, private schools will be reimbursed the cost of reservation of seats for needy children at government rates. But the rest of the burden, if any, will have to be borne by the school establishment, sources said.
In the works since 2002 when the 86th constitutional amendment was effected, the Right to Education (RTE) Bill was first taken to the cabinet in August 2008 only to be referred to a Group of Ministers (GoM) after funding related questions cropped up at the meet. The Bill passed muster when the GoM headed by former HRD Minister Arjun Singh said that funding was no longer a problem.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008 was introduced in Rajya Sabha on December 15, 2008. The chairman referred it to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD.
The standing committee had asked for more clarity on the state-Centre funding pattern for implementation of the scheme and had recommended doing away with the Bill?s provision which says that no child shall be denied admission without proof of age. The committee had said that this ?blanket provision? is not desirable in a society growing at rapid speed and had that ?age is an important criterion for the children to encourage competition and grow?.