Six
years after an amendment was made in the Indian Constitution, the union cabinet
cleared the Right to Education Bill. It is now soon to be tabled in Parliament
for approval before it makes a fundamental right of every child to get free and
compulsory education.
More
than six decades after Independence, the Indian government has cleared the
Right to Education Bill that makes free and compulsory education a fundamental
right for all children between the ages of 6 and 14.
The
Union Cabinet has cleared the long-pending Right to Education Bill, which
promises free and compulsory education to every child. The move should provide
a much needed boost to the country’s education sector.
Key
provisions of the Bill include: 25% reservation in private schools for
disadvantaged children from the neighbourhood, at the entry level. The
government will reimburse expenditure incurred by schools; no donation or
capitation fee on admission; and no interviewing the child or parents as part
of the screening process.
The
Bill also prohibits physical punishment, expulsion or detention of a child and
deployment of teachers for non-educational purposes other than census or
election duty and disaster relief. Running a school without recognition will
attract penal action.
Observing
that it was an important promise to children, as education would become a
fundamental right, India’s Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that it would be
the legally enforceable duty of the Centre and the states to provide free and
compulsory education.
He
added that the human resources ministry would release the text of the Bill
after consulting the Election Commission, in view of assembly polls in some
states.
The
Group of Ministers (GoM) entrusted with the task of scrutinising the Bill
cleared the draft legislation early this month without diluting its content,
which includes the contentious provision of 25% reservation in private schools
at the entry level, for disadvantaged children in the neighbourhood. Some see
this as a way of getting the private sector to discharge the State’s
constitutional obligation.
The
Right to Education Bill is the enabling legislation to notify the 86th
constitutional amendment that gives every child between the age of six and 14
the right to free and compulsory education. But it has been 61 years in the
making.
In
1937, when Mahatma Gandhi voiced the need for universal education he met with
the same stonewalling about cost that dogs the issue today. The Constitution
left it as a vague plea to the State to “endeavour to provide free and
compulsory education to all children up to age 14”, but access to elementary
school still remains elusive today.
It was
only in 2002 that education was made a fundamental right in the 86th amendment
to the Constitution.
In
2004, the government in power, the NDA, drafted a Bill but lost the elections
before it could be introduced. The present UPA’s model Bill was then lobbed
back and forth between the Centre and the states over the matter of funding and
responsibility.
Critics
of the Bill question the age provision. They say children below six years and
above 14 should be included. Also, the government has not addressed the issue
of shortage of teachers, low skill levels of many teachers, and lack of educational
infrastructure in existing schools let alone the new ones that will have to be
built and equipped.
The
Bill had earlier faced resistance from the law and finance ministries on issues
involving the states’ financial contributions. The law ministry expected
problems to arise from the 25% reservation, while human resource development
ministry estimates put the total cost at Rs 55,000 crore every year.
The
Planning Commission expressed its inability to fork out the money; the state
governments said they were unwilling to supply even part of the funding. The
Centre was thus forced to think of footing the entire bill itself.
The
draft Bill aims to provide elementary schools in every neighbourhood within
three years – though the word “school” encompasses a whole spectrum of
structures.
A set
of minimum norms have been worked out as there’s the usual barrier of paperwork
in remote rural and poor urban areas. The State is also obliged to tide over
any financial compulsions that may keep a child out of school.
“Laws
and Bills don’t make children go to school. Initially, there will be problems
because while everyone must understand their social responsibility, what
matters is whether the right children will have access to this programme. They
say the fee component will be given by the government, but it’s not fair to put
that cost on others,” says Lata Vaidyanthan, Principal, Modern School,
Barakhamba Road, New Delhi.
Still,
educationists who’ve rooted for the Bill argue that sharing social
responsibility should be seen as a privilege, not a burden.