Nearly 90 years ago, on January 24, 1922, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in a letter: “As we become independent, all the defects of the systems of elections, injustice, tyranny of the richer classes as also the burden of running administration are bound to come upon us.” Everyone now realizes how prophetically accurate he was. In the same letter, he suggested: “But there is hope, if education spreads throughout the country… Otherwise India would become the abode for grave injustice and tyranny of the rulers.” He reiterated the call for universal education in 1937 when the conceptualization of basic education was presented to the country. His heirs in positions of power never gave the priority to education that it deserved. The constitutional directive to provide free and compulsory education to “all children till they attain 14 years of age” was just ignored in practice for decades together. Even after the Supreme Court ruling in 1993, the 86th Constitutional amendment came only in 2002. The coming in force of the Right to Education (RTE) Act on April 1, 2010, was a welcome step in spite of severe deficiencies such as its applicability only to 6-14 age group.
After a year, the Central government has its progress report ready. It is only data and statistics that come to the rescue of the bureaucracy in all such areas that defy real progress in a comprehensive sense. In this case even that does not help. Education is on the concurrent list and any major policy decision that the Centre initiates is presumed to have the concurrence and support of all the state governments/UT. Only six states – Sikkim, Orissa, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan – have notified the Act. Seven UTs have also done so. But the most significant point would be why not Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and the remaining states? The Government has accepted that 21 per cent teachers are without professional qualifications. The ministry could claim the credit for sanctioning 4.5 lakh additional posts of teachers but even among the existing sanctioned posts in state schools, there is a shortage of 5.8 lakh teachers. The total additional number estimated a year ago was around 13 lakh. The recruitment procedure in states is still archaic and no one is held responsible if the vacancies in larger states exceed even beyond 25-30 per cent. Recall Operation Blackboard Scheme introduced after the National Policy of Education, 1986, which promised to convert every single-teacher school into at least a double-teacher school. Even today, there are 9 per cent single-teacher schools in the country. The RTE has made no impact on this situation. The actual percentage of single-teacher schools may be much higher than the official figures. In such conditions, quality is bound to be a casualty. Inadequate learner attainments are a major cause of children being withdrawn from schools within three-four years. Even official figures admit 8.1 million children not entering schools. Is it not shocking that only 50 per cent of those who come to class I finish class VIII. Among them, more than 50 per cent are deficient in learner attainments. No nation can accept this situation. The neglect of the criticality of taking the state governments on board now stands exposed. Visit a primary school in a remote area of Bihar or Uttar Pradesh and talk to teachers about RTE. This interaction would result in shocking revelation of the schools being unconcerned about the significance of the RTE. For them, they receive so many routine instruction from above; nothing new about it.
The implementation of the RTE required environment-building as the first step. It was possible only when state governments were enthusiastic about it and their functionaries convinced of the “change” that was being expected to occur post-April 2010. Every teacher deserved reading material on the implications and his/her changed role, particularly the responsibility to generate awareness among people. This aspect remained ignored at every stage: nothing has visibly and effectively changed in the sector of universal elementary education in India during the last one year. The RTE can’t be effective if the teacher-taught ratio remains skewed; if the presence of teachers remains elusive, particularly in rural schools; if the teachers are continuously assigned duties other than teaching in spite of all pronouncements not to do so. A significant outcome of this one year could be put as: there has been no change in the approach, attitude and work culture of those responsible for successful implementation of the RTE. It is an open secret that around 20 per cent private/public schools charging high fees cater to the educational needs of the children from elite and the privileged sections of the society. The concept of neighbourhood schools or common school system has never been sincerely pursued. The KendriyaVidyalayas were established to cater to the requirements of the wards of all categories of the Central government employees. The elite sections of these services did not relish the idea of “all” and a Sanskriti school was set up in Chanakyapuri, Delhi, for the higher echelons of bureaucracy. Now the Centre shall “provide funds for the infrastructure development (capital expenditure) for all Sanskriti schools which will be set up in other states”. The government’s priorities, including its commitment and sincerity to the elite, are as clear as the day light. During the Common wealth Games, it was pointed out that 60 government schools in Delhi are running in tents. The point is: Are public funds needed for these schools or to establish more Sanskriti schools? [J S Rajput, former Director of the NCERT, in The New Sunday Express – Magazine, p.8 of 10 April 2011]
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