Govt won’t budge on RTE: Sibal
“We will not move an inch,” says Union HRD Minister; educational soft loans soon
Union Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said the Centre will not budge on provisions of the Right to Education Act (RTE) including the neighbourhood school concept.
“There is no question of relaxing any provision. Poor students need an opportunity to study in schools in their neighbourhood,” Sibal told reporters here. The Union Minister was in the City to deliver the Vithal N Chandavarkar Memorial Lecture on ‘Empowerment through Education’ at Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
When reporters pointed out that a section of elite private schools had opposed the legislation which provides for earmarking 25 per cent seats in a school to children from economically backward section of society in the neighbourhood, Sibal said: “It’s a churning process. They can have their say. But the fact is the legislation will be implemented in its present form. We will not move an inch.”
Education finance
Sibal said the Centre will don the role of a guarantor while providing loans at lower rate of interest to students studying in professional colleges through the proposed Education Finance Corporation.
The concept of education finance corporation, first mooted earlier this year, is taking a concrete shape with the HRD Ministry working out the final modalities with the Planning Commission.
“Every student, no matter from what background, would get loans once he gets admission into professional college. These loans to be extended by banks would be guaranteed by Government of India. The proposed corporation will provide loans at four per cent which will be repaid by the students after getting jobs,” Sibal said.
He said the proposal will soon be sent to the Finance Ministry and then placed before the Cabinet for clearance.
Credit for investors
The corporation would also treat education as a priority sector and provide long term loans at eight per cent interest to those who want to set up educational institutions.
“These loans can be repaid in 25 years, thereby reducing pressure on education institutions to charge hefty fees”, he said.
Replying to queries from students, Sibal said the HRD Ministry will come out with a national vocational educational framework by the end of the year to provide a benchmark for vocational education in the country.
The Union Minister said a multi-pronged approach will soon be set in place to ensure quality in higher education. A national accreditation authority would be established to ensure quality standards. The authority would outsource to accreditation agencies which would evaluate institutions. “If they do not have minimum benchmarks of quality, they would not be entitled to run the institutions,” Sibal said.
The educational tribunal legislation, provides for the setting up of tribunals to settle all types of disputes, including malpractice or harassment of students, he said.
The educational malpractice bill would levy penalty or even imprison university administrators if promises of “quality” education made in their prospectus were not kept, Sibal added.
