WUNRN
UNICEF - Despite a major improvement in literacy rates in India over the past decade, the number of children who are not in school remains high. Gender disparities in education persist with far more girls than boys failing to complete primary school.
The national literacy rate of girls over seven years is 54% against 75% for boys.
Although
lower primary schools are within one kilometer of 94 percent of India’s
population, at an average every second girl child in India has not been
enrolled. While the enrolment rate is high in urban areas, it is
conspicuously low in rural areas and amongst the backward and minority
communities.
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INDIA - LAW FOR FREE &
COMPULSORY EDUCATION
FOR ALL INDIA CHILDREN, AGES 6-14
YEARS
NEW
DELHI: Nearly eight years after the Constitution was amended to make education
a fundamental right, the government today implemented a historic law to provide
free and compulsory education to all children in age group of 6-14 years.
The 86th Constitutional amendment making education a fundamental right was passed
by Parliament in 2002. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
Act, a law to enable the implementation of the fundamental right, was passed by
Parliament last year. Both the Constitutional amendment and the new law came
into force from today.
The new law makes it obligatory on part of the state governments and local
bodies to ensure that every child gets education in a school in the
neighbourhood.
Its implementation will directly benefit close to one crore children who do not
go to schools at present. These children, who have either dropped out from
schools or have never been to any educational institution, will be enrolled in
schools.
The Right To Education is being touted by the UPA government as another major
achievement after Right To Information Act and National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act.
At present, there are nearly 22 crore children in the relevant age group.
However, 4.6 per cent of these children (nearly 92 lakh) are out of school, a
ministry official said.
The school management committee or the local authority will identify the
drop-outs or out of school children above six years of age and admit them in
classes appropriate to their age after giving special training.
The Act makes it a right of every child to get education. The Act makes it
obligatory for the appropriate governments to ensure that every child gets free
elementary education.
The Act mandates that even private educational institutions have to reserve 25
per cent seats for children from weaker sections.
Certain schools have already challenged the law in the Supreme Court as being
"unconstitutional" and violating fundamental rights of unaided
private educational institutions. However, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said
that legal process would not affect the implementation of law.
The Finance Commission has provided Rs 25,000 crore to the states for
implementation of the Act.
As per the government's estimate, there will be a requirement of Rs 1.71 lakh
crore in the next five years for implementation of the Act. Sibal said that the
government has arranged the required funds for implementing the law.
The Act says no school can deny admission to a student and all schools need to
have trained teachers. In case of schools not having trained teachers, they
will have to comply with the provision within three years.
As per the new law, the schools need to have certain minimum facilities like
adequate teachers, playground and infrastructure. The government will evolve
some mechanism to help marginalised schools comply with the provisions of the
Act.
The government has already prepared model rules which have been circulated to
the states for preparing their own rules for implementation of the Act. The
Centre has also prepared separate rules for the Union Territories which will be
notified by the Law Ministry next week.
As per the Model rules, the local bodies and the state governments will
undertake household surveys and neighbourhood school mapping to ensure that all
children are sent to school.
The rules say that the state governments or local authorities will determine
the neighbourhood schools by undertaking school mapping. Such agencies shall
ensure that no child is subjected to caste, class, religious or gender abuse in
the school.
The local authority will conduct a household survey and maintain a record of
all children in its jurisdiction. The record will contain detailed information
about the child and the parents and will specify whether the child belongs to
the weaker section or disadvantaged group or having any disability.
The state government or local authorities will identify children with
disabilities and children from disadvantaged groups every year.
Unaided and private schools shall ensure that children from weaker sections and
disadvantaged groups shall not be segregated from the other children in the
classrooms nor shall their classes be held at places and timings different from
the classes held for the other children.
The new law will ensure that quality education is provided to children of all
community, including minorities and backward classes.
However, the reservation for weaker section will not be implemented from this
year as the admission season is almost over. It will be implemented from
2011-12.
The state government and local authorities will establish primary schools
within walking distance of one km of the neighbourhood. In case of children for
Class VI to VIII, the school should be within a walking distance of three km of
the neighbourhood.
The government has prepared a short film on the new law which would be aired on
TV channels to create awareness.
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