ABIDe for independent regulator for RTE
The Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force (ABIDe) has suggested the creation of an independent education regulator for the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
In a set of recommendations submitted to Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri, ABIDe has emphasised that creation of independent education regulators is essential to earn the confidence of private investors in education.
ABIDe Convener and Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar said that the current proposal to empower Block Educational Officers (BEOs) to regulate fees and admissions was not the right way.
“We have instead suggested that school management committees should have oversight of the school including monitoring excellence”, he said.
According to Chandrashekar, the rules proposed by ABIDe’s working group has recognised the need to strengthen the public education system, and a substantial portion of the rules, therefore, is focused on government and aided schools.
Some new proposals include giving local communities greater participation in management of educational institutions, creating regulatory framework, measuring learning outcomes, and enabling parents to make informed choices. On neighbourhood schools, the task force has recommended defining neighbourhoods on the basis of existing electoral constituency boundaries.
Akshara Foundation Chairman Ashok Kamath said that Bangalore could utilise administrative units used by education departments such as clusters to define the neighbourhood of a school.
Each educational cluster would approximately span across two wards, he said. Rural areas would need a different definition of neighbourhood, he added.
The ABIDe report also focusses on unaided schools which are very different from the government-funded ones.
“There are differences between the two groups in their finances, teaching styles, innovation and other aspects. Therefore, it makes sense to have a second set of rules, within the RTE’s framework, that is better suited to these institutions”, he added.
