India launches children's right to education

[ViruRulez]

ok I was watching a lot of debates over it yesterday night and one of the most controversial as well as one of the boldest part of this bill is that every school private school in India has to include 25 percent seats for the poor. Even the schools with monthly fees as high as 20000 - 50000 must keep 25 percent seats reserved for the underprivileged. Private schools were worried how they would afford the expenditure of accomodating the poor students in their high profile schools. I would also agree on this because I believe it is not the business of the govt. to interfere in running of private schools. But then Kapil Sibal gave the reasoning that if the poor only study in govt. schools then they will always feel seperated from students of rich elite schools and that would be against the idea of common and inclusive education. I am in two minds over this private schools point as it is intrusive in pvt. School business. Rest the bill sounds fine.

[ViruRulez]

i will post in detail on this topic once my internet on my main line is fixed. It is a pain in the @ss to type a lot from my cell phone

[urbestfriend]

Though I am very hapy about "right to education" I am skeptical about the implementation of it. We must make sure to provide "quality" education to our children. "Quality" is very important here as I know that quality of education in India is very poor. Many students who pass lower secondary and higher secondary cannot do simple math or can't read /write a seentense without mistake shows our education standard. Govt must concentrate on training,recruiting and developing good teaching faculties in order to ensure good quality education. Unfortunately our governement teachers are paid poorly, recruitment standard is very low coupled with no proper teacher's training dilutes our education standard. One more thing we must do is introduce English education from first standard in govt schools.Phucking regional language fanatics are hampering introduction of English education in govt schools but the English education has become mandatory for our children to excel. Merely introducing English education is not enough but proper supply of good English teachers is must. Advanced technology like video conferencing / audio CD's can be utilized to teach English.

[Clarke]

ok I was watching a lot of debates over it yesterday night and one of the most controversial as well as one of the boldest part of this bill is that every school private school in India has to include 25 percent seats for the poor. Even the schools with monthly fees as high as 20000 - 50000 must keep 25 percent seats reserved for the underprivileged. Private schools were worried how they would afford the expenditure of accomodating the poor students in their high profile schools. I would also agree on this because I believe it is not the business of the govt. to interfere in running of private schools. But then Kapil Sibal gave the reasoning that if the poor only study in govt. schools then they will always feel seperated from students of rich elite schools and that would be against the idea of common and inclusive education. I am in two minds over this private schools point as it is intrusive in pvt. School business. Rest the bill sounds fine.

What exactly is underprivileged ? Poor folks or the same old SC/ST/SEBC etc gravy train thats been running in public sector colleges and offices ? Either way, the govt must have done this to avoid showcasing their incompetence in setting up quality educational institutes and hence throw the burden on private schools. I hope they take this up right to the supreme court. Next up, job reservations in the private sector :wall:

[riya]

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' date=' a graduate is very common. There is no better way to progress than getting educated.[/quote'] Yes way to go,but at the same time we should make sure that they get qualified teachers:two_thumbs_up:

[ViruRulez]

What exactly is underprivileged ? Poor folks or the same old SC/ST/SEBC etc gravy train thats been running in public sector colleges and offices ? Either way, the govt must have done this to avoid showcasing their incompetence in setting up quality educational institutes and hence throw the burden on private schools. I hope they take this up right to the supreme court. Next up, job reservations in the private sector :wall:

No .. it is poor folks and not based on caste etc. I agree and I personally feel for the private schools as the govt. should not interfere in private sector ... but then I am in two minds over it as frankly speaking it would really remove somewhat the social and economic divisions in Indian education .. so in a way I am happy as well as concerned :--D But if this bill is really realized then yes some of the dreams of every person like me who is concerned about Indian education and India's progress would see their dreams for India's future turn into reality a decade or a few decades down the line

Yes way to go' date='but at the same time we should make sure that they get qualified teachers:two_thumbs_up:[/quote'] I am not much worried about the primary school teachers as there are a lot of qualified unemployed people in India who will work for it but for higher classes it might be a problem

[ViruRulez]

As I told I will tell more details of the bill as I watched many of the debates on that day One more thing in the bill is that all educational institutions in India has been banned from taking donation fee for admission .... and this covers not only 6-14 years but higher education including medical colleges and engineering colleges too .. the open donation fee cannot even be taken by private schools or colleges and it has been completely removed

[nballa]

won't solve anything. kerala has like a 90% literacy rate and yet its lagging behind among southern states. apparently they count anyone who knows how to write their name as 'literate'. it wont help an iota in real life.

[EnterTheVoid]

Fantastic initiative. Also don't forget the mid day meals programme; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-day_Meal_Scheme

[ViruRulez]

Though I am very hapy about "right to education" I am skeptical about the implementation of it. We must make sure to provide "quality" education to our children. "Quality" is very important here as I know that quality of education in India is very poor. Many students who pass lower secondary and higher secondary cannot do simple math or can't read /write a seentense without mistake shows our education standard. Govt must concentrate on training' date='recruiting and developing good teaching faculties in order to ensure good quality education. Unfortunately our governement teachers are paid poorly, recruitment standard is very low coupled with no proper teacher's training dilutes our education standard. [b']One more thing we must do is introduce English education from first standard in govt schools.Phucking regional language fanatics are hampering introduction of English education in govt schools but the English education has become mandatory for our children to excel. Merely introducing English education is not enough but proper supply of good English teachers is must. Advanced technology like video conferencing / audio CD's can be utilized to teach English.

Agree 100%

[dev.goswami]

Last night there was a program on NDTV where Mr. Kapil Sibal was the guest and he interacted with the audience of the show compered by B Dutt I do not know how may noticed it..most of the questions asked were about the problems to be faced mainly in are of recruiting teachers. While he was not evasive on the issue yet there was a certain amount of over-confidence about him and he was saying all along 'thats what needs to be done', 'thats what is the problem' etc What i mean to say is that we all know what needs to be done and whats the problem but we require the govt to do what needs to be done and solve the problems..not show them. I was expecting some hardcore ways in which he planned on tackling the issues up against him but i was sadly let down. At the end when asked what are the two challenges he feels are in the way of RTE he correctly said 1. Teachers and 2. Quality of teachers. And on how he would solve the problems he says: 'I have a feeling that will just do it bas kuch bhi karke karna hai' (not the exact words) While i quite liked the motivation and confidence inside him his body language does make me wonder if he'll really deliver what he has promised.

[Crookbond]

The glitches that dog RTE implementation http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/the-glitches-that-dog-rte-implementation/article4564801.ece

Glaring discrepancies in the implementation of the Right to Education Act across Karnataka were discussed at a State-level meet convened here on Saturday by the People Alliance for Right to Education (PAFRE). Each district representative prepared a brief note about the ground realities of the RTE and its implementation at the workshop attended by members of PAFRE, teachers, mahila sanghas, Dalit sanghas and various non-governmental organisations that work in the field of primary education. V.P. Niranjanradhya, facilitator-PAFRE, said apart from the 25 per cent quota for disadvantaged children, there are several other issues that are not being addressed at all. “If you go by government’s figures, about 54,000 students are still out of school. This is a huge number by itself. Issues of donations being collected, teachers being burdened with non-teaching work and rampant corporal punishment are some of the major concerns. We do not have a proper redressal mechanism in place either. The Act is not being implemented in letter and spirit.” Stocktaking meet The discrepancies that were brought to light by the speakers will now be prepared as a document to place before the National Alliance for the Fundamental Right to quality Education and Equity (NAFRE) during the national level stocktaking meet scheduled to be held in New Delhi on April 3 and 4. Narasimha Murthy, director of Abhivruddi, a Tumkur-based NGO, noted that teachers, slum development programme members and officials in-charge of implementing the RTE are hardly aware of the provisions of the Act. Inadequate facilities “One major concern is the lack of proper sanitary facilities in schools. All schools are required to have a separate toilet for girls, boys and teachers. But in most institutions there is only one toilet and even that is being used only by teachers. Schools even lack infrastructure like compound walls, playground and libraries,” he added.

[Crookbond]

What Right To Education? Failing to meet the prescribed norms, half of the existing schools will lose their recognition http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/What-Right-To-Education-Failing-to-meet-the-prescribed-norms-half-of-the-existing-schools-will-lose-their-recognition/articleshow/19403581.cms

The latest Annual Status of Education Report 2012 (ASER 2012), published by NGO Pratham, documents an all-around sharp decline in student achievements from levels that were already low. In just two years between 2010 and 2012, percentage of fifth graders in public schools who can read second grade-level text has declined from 50.7% to 41.7%. Notwithstanding the fact that 2012 was designated the year of mathematics in India, achievement levels in arithmetic have fallen drastically. Percentage of fifth graders who could do a simple two-digit subtraction with borrowing has fallen from 70.9% to 53.5% in two years.