India joins the list of few countries where Right to Education is a fundamental right. The Act promises to ensure education for all children between 6 and 14, a whopping 22 crore children, out of which nearly 1.1 crore are out of school and the act makes it obligatory for the appropriate governments to ensure that every child gets free elementary education.
In probably one of the most daring decision, the Indian government will pass the Right to Education [RTE] today.
The right to education is recognized as a human right by the United Nations and is understood to establish an entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all children, as well as equitable access to higher education, and a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education. – wikipedia
India joins the list of few countries where Right to Education is a fundamental right. The Act promises to ensure education for all children between 6 and 14, a whopping 22 crore children, out of which nearly 1.1 crore are out of school and the act makes it obligatory for the appropriate governments to ensure that every child gets free elementary education.
Right to Education
The Act mandates that even private educational institutions have to reserve 25 per cent seats for children from weaker sections. The Finance Commission has provided Rs 25,000 crore to the states for implementation of the Act.
Implementation Challenges
Lack of teachers, funds, prevalent corruption,state-center differences, infrastructure and most importantly, the lack of will power to execute – there are multiple challenges for the government to go beyond lip service.
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On Thursday — April 1 — India will join a group of few countries in the world, with a historic law making education a fundamental right of every child coming into force.
Making elementary education an entitlement for children in the 6-14 age group, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 will directly benefit close to one crore children who do not go to school at present.
In an unprecedented move, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday will address the nation, announcing the operationalisation of the Act.
“Tomorrow [Thursday] is a historic day as the Right to Education Act comes into effect. For the first time, education will become a constitutional right. It is a tryst with destiny in the area of education,” Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters. He said it was the responsibility of all stakeholders to enforce it.
“But to think that we have passed a law and all children will get educated is not right. What we have done is preparing a framework to get quality education. It is for the entire community to contribute and participate in this national endeavour,” he said.
Nearly 92 lakh children, who had either dropped out of schools or never been to any educational institution, will get elementary education as it will be binding on the part of the local and State governments to ensure that all children in the 6-14 age group get schooling.
As per the Act, private educational institutions should reserve 25 per cent seats for children from the weaker sections of society.
The Centre and the States have agreed to share the financial burden in the ratio of 55:45, while the Finance Commission has given Rs. 25,000 crore to the States for implementing the Act. The Centre has approved an outlay of Rs.15,000 crore for 2010-2011.
The school management committee or the local authority will identify the drop-outs or out-of-school children aged above six and admit them in classes appropriate to their age after giving special training. As per the Act, the schools need to have minimum facilities such as adequate teachers, playground and infrastructure.
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