RTE light flickers in the storm of resistance

Lessons from the passing year: New laws, malfeasance and more in education sector

The year began on a high note with the UPA government enforcing the Act on April 1. Addressing the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: “In my childhood, I read under the dim light of a kerosene lamp. I am what I am today because of education, and I want every Indian child, girl and boy, to be so touched by the light.”

The Act is a breather for almost 85 lakh children in Karnataka who rely on State-run schools for their elementary education. Some of the benefits proposed for children include free admission in a neighbourhood school, quality education, etc.

Despite resistance from the private school lobby, the Karnataka government is busy preparing draft rules for the Act. According to recent figures released by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), the implementing agency, it has received nearly 2,000 suggestions from various stakeholders. The SSA is in the process of finalising the draft rules by the end of the current year. Later, they would be submitted to the State government.

Favouring the Act
Supporters of the Act say it has brought the private school lobby under the scanner of the State government.

“The Act gives power to the state government to monitor the private school lobby. Further, it enlists numerous parameters for delivering quality education in schools,” said A S Seetharamu, an SSA consultant. The retired professor of ISEC also noted that the Act had also decentralised the management of schools as they also have to set up a committee.

The State already has a headstart with respect to other states on the formation of school management committees (SMC), the monitoring agencies for the RTE at the school level. The existing school development and management committee (SDMC) will function as the SMC under the RTE Act. However, SDMCs currently do not extend to private aided and unaided institutions.

“SDMCs will be extended to private aided schools, while the existing Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in private schools will function as School Management Committee,” an SSA official said.

Under the RTE Act, the State government is to establish a school within a walking distance of a kilometre of the neighbourhood for classes I to V, and three km for classes VI to VIII. In order to achieve the objective, the SSA is planning to launch a school mapping exercise that will identify all children, including children in remote areas, with disability, belonging to disadvantaged groups, and to weaker sections of society. The SSA has decided to use a GIS-based system to collect such data from field surveys.

Draft rules
Nevertheless, there is a lot more to be achieved. Private schools are continuing to resist the legislation in many ways. According to experts, some key clauses of the RTE Act, such as 25 percent reservation, would be difficult to implement in the coming year as the SSA is yet to submit the draft rules to the government. Even if the SSA manages to submit the draft rules to the government by early January, implementation of the key clauses will remain doubtful. Most private schools started their admission process as early as November and will wrap it up by early next year.

 Moreover, the State has appeared to miss the deadline on a host of other issues. For instance, as per the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010 (Central), the State government is yet to estimate the teacher requirement, and also to notify the sanctioned strength of teachers to schools.

The State is also yet to compute the reimbursement of expenditure per child, which is supposed to be paid by the State government to schools for enrolling children from poor and weaker sections of society.