Sachinism Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 A landmark law which makes education a fundamental right for children has come into effect in India. It is now legally enforceable for every child to demand free and elementary education between the ages of six and 14 years. Indian PM Manmohan Singh said enough funds would be made available to ensure that children had access to education. An estimated eight million children aged between six and 14 do not currently attend school in India. Mr Singh said that the government was committed "to ensuring that all children irrespective of gender and social category have access to education". Recalling his own childhood, Mr Singh, a qualified economist, said: "I read under the dim light of a kerosene lamp. I am what I am totally because of education." "So I want that the light of education should reach to all," Mr Singh added. Analysts say the law marks a historic moment for India's children. "It serves as a building block to ensure that every child has the right to guaranteed quality elementary education. The state, with the help of families and communities, has a legal obligation to fulfil this duty," said Karin Hulshof, India representative of UN children's fund Unicef. Recently, the World Bank announced two education projects worth a total of $1.05bn for India - one of which is to boost the number of children enrolling in and completing elementary school. The World Bank says the number of children reportedly enrolled in elementary education in India increased by 57 million to 192 million between 2003 and 2009. More than two-thirds of this increase took place in government schools. The number of children out of school declined from 25 million to 8.1 million during the same period, the World Bank says. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8598167.stm :two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up:
DomainK Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 I welcome the law, but I think they should first give the children basic right to food. First the government should make sure that no one below the age of 12 dies of hunger. Child labor exists in India because many children dont have food to eat. They work to earn a day's bread. What exactly will such children do with the right to education? Go to school hungry? I know that government schools provide a meal, but that is one meal in a day. The kids coming from well to do families do a right to education. They get it anyways. The kids coming from poor families do not have an option but work and earn and even if they now have a right to education by law, it's quite worthless for them. This is where comes the law against child labor. The government stops them from working but does not tell them how they can get food. The basic problem of a poor Indian child is food. Very few would remain uneducated if they could afford it.
ViruRulez Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 I was about to post it but saw already posted. A new fundamental right has been added and is effective from today but it will be a big task to implement it. Anyways it will help in my and every Indian's dream of education and development of India. Good to see the govt. implement the right and I hope that it is implemented properly and uniformly all over India though I am also a bit worried if that would be possible. This CNN-IBN news articles gives a very good note of the challenges in implementing this right: New Delhi: If implemented in it's true spirit the Right to Education will forever change the way we look at education. But providing quality education to every child in India is easier said than done. Moreover, the state government will be held responsible if the child is out of school. The Right to Education is a landmark Act but it also faces huge challenges. If the Act is implemented in letter and spirit then within every single kilometer of walking distance there will be a school. With such a game-changing scheme, the UPA wants to derive as much political mileage as possible. So the Act after the initial backing of Sonia Gandhi has now been taken up by the Government.But HRD Minister Kapil Sibal plays down his role and gives credit to the Congress leadership. Sibal finds the bill flawless but there is no denying it has more than its share of critics. "The bill does not talk about children below six years of age and those above 14 years." says Shantha Sinha, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights Chairperson Sibal knows the task before him is huge. First there is the huge requirement of teachers and the Government will have to recruit 12 lakh teachers in six months to achieve the optimum student-teacher ratio. There's also a need for a massive teacher training programme over the next five because primary teachers will all have to get a B.Ed degree. Within three years, basic infrastructure including classrooms and library in every school will have to be in place. Sixty-three years after Independence, the Government is guaranteeing the freedom from illiteracy. But will the guarantee be effective because the Government appears little prepared. It is still very uncertain if almost every village in India will boast of a school in the next few years. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/many-challenges-before-right-to-education/112494-37.html
ViruRulez Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 I welcome the law' date=' [b']but I think they should first give the children basic right to food. First the government should make sure that no one below the age of 12 dies of hunger. Child labor exists in India because many children dont have food to eat. They work to earn a day's bread. What exactly will such children do with the right to education? Go to school hungry? I know that government schools provide a meal, but that is one meal in a day. The kids coming from well to do families do a right to education. They get it anyways. The kids coming from poor families do not have an option but work and earn and even if they now have a right to education by law, it's quite worthless for them. This is where comes the law against child labor. The government stops them from working but does not tell them how they can get food. The basic problem of a poor Indian child is food. Very few would remain uneducated if they could afford it. I dont agree that right to food is more important than right to education. We know that no fundamental right would never be implemented properly. But at the same time, even if right to education is implemented 50% then it means working for India's future. If there is right to food, then it means only working for India's present. How many generations will you give food. If they get proper education then they can earn and feed their future themselves and their children in the future. Food is important but you cannot feed people for the next 50 years. Instead if you educate people, they will be able to help themselves and others in the future. But I also agree to your point that right to food should also be given to children. But by that I mean only to children not the whole families. I have seen many poor families who dont let their children go to school and instead work for the family. Many of them I have seen producing 5-10 children without thinking. Education can help in solving a lot of problems even for the parents but yes I agree that food should also be provided along with the right to education. But right to education is more important for sure than right to food. Right to education means working for the future while right to food means living just in the present.
Sachinism Posted April 1, 2010 Author Posted April 1, 2010 The worrying thing with hiring 12 lakh teachers in 6 months could mean a lot of unqualified people getting jobs they can't handle.
IKnowU Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 As long as illiteracy skills are reducing and literacy skills are rising then we are heading in the right direction.
ViruRulez Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 The worrying thing with hiring 12 lakh teachers in 6 months could mean a lot of unqualified people getting jobs they can't handle. I agree.. and especially with corruption rampant in India hope that most of those teachers are not undeserving candidates who gets into schools as teachers by bribing .. but then they said that B Ed. would be needed for teaching .. B Ed. is s a good degree for teaching in India but I hope that the B Ed. degrees would be given properly... there are a lot of factors which really concern me if it would be implemented properly but still it will for sure help in growth of education and thereby India's development even if it is not implemented properly
Sachinism Posted April 1, 2010 Author Posted April 1, 2010 What does it mean when it says primary teachers will be required to get B Ed. Here the school children aged 6-10 go is called primary school, is that what it meant in the article?
Gunner_Mania Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 What does it mean when it says primary teachers will be required to get B Ed. Here the school children aged 6-10 go is called primary school, is that what it meant in the article? Primary school is classes 1 to 7, or aged 5 to 12.
ViruRulez Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 What does it mean when it says primary teachers will be required to get B Ed. Here the school children aged 6-10 go is called primary school, is that what it meant in the article? I have never been to govt. school ever in my life and so not sure .. but I think from Class 1 to Class 5 it is primary education .. yes you can say age 6-10 .. in India there is no such thing as age I suppose .. students can join school as soon as they become 4 years old .. so it might be 4-8 , 6-10 or 7-11 .. it just has to be 5 years if they dont fail in their classes Frankly speaking B Ed. teacher are well accustomed to handle the primary classes .. the one thing which I want is to make English the primary language in govt. schools too .. in private schools English is the primary language since ages but in govt. schools the local language is made the primary language .. but in the real world of jobs or even higher education English is needed .. so they lag behind compared to private schools .. I dont see govt. promoting English as the opposition would attack them over forgetting own culture and own language and loads of problems with it .. but from a development perspective English should be made the primary language for education all over India .. anyways it is the only official language in all states of India IMO
ViruRulez Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 Primary school is classes 1 to 7' date=' or aged 5 to 12.[/quote'] I think classes 1-5 is primary school, 6-8 is middle school and 9-10/9-12 high school .. not sure though
Gunner_Mania Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 . the one thing which I want is to make English the primary language in govt. schools too .. in private schools English is the primary language since ages but in govt. schools the local language is made the primary language .. but in the real world of jobs or even higher education English is needed .. so they lag behind compared to private schools .. I dont see govt. promoting English as the opposition would attack them over forgetting own culture and own language and loads of problems with it .. but from a development perspective English should be made the primary language for education all over India .. anyways it is the only official language in all states of India IMO I don't think I am too fussed about it, learning English is one thing and becoming a literate is completely different. Education should be made available in whatever language possible. Not every body needs to know English.
Gunner_Mania Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 I think classes 1-5 is primary school' date=' 6-8 is middle school and 9-10/9-12 high school .. not sure though[/quote'] Well I passed school a long time ago, back then I remember we called 1-5 primary, 6-7 higher primary, 8-10 high school and 11-12 - pre uni.
Sachinism Posted April 1, 2010 Author Posted April 1, 2010 Primary school is classes 1 to 7' date=' or aged 5 to 12.[/quote'] Is it, I know high school starts @ 11-12. Wasn't 100% on primary lol
Clarke Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 All social reform is welcome, lets see how well it is implemented. Hail Fuhrerin Sonia Gandhi :two_thumbs_up:
Clarke Posted April 1, 2010 Posted April 1, 2010 [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpc-jGZkbAk]YouTube- School Chale Hum[/ame] School chale hum :aha:
Banned from PP Posted April 2, 2010 Posted April 2, 2010 Fantastic initiative. Indians should be extremely proud of the educational standards they have set for their children.
DomainK Posted April 2, 2010 Posted April 2, 2010 Fantastic initiative. Indians should be extremely proud of the educational standards they have set for their children. Indeed. We have done a very good job of it and our hunger for education is one of the primary reason for the progress we have made since independence. In India, a graduate is very common. There is no better way to progress than getting educated.
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