Gulf Today

MARGINALIS­ED FROM SCHOOL

- BY SHASHI THAROOR

Although the recent Budget session of Parliament was appallingl­y disrupted by the ruling party’s surrogates and Question Hour did not function most of the time, some things did work, almost on autopilot. Written questions submitted by MPS were indeed answered in writing – I got 26 of my questions admitted and answered — and while the more prestigiou­s “starred questions” could not get asked, these “unstarred” ones have given us an instructiv­e insight into some crucial aspects of government policy.

My questions to the Minister of Human Resource Developmen­t in the Lok Sabha on the implementa­tion of the Right to Education Act (RTE), almost a decade after its enactment, are a case in point. The answers I received are alarming, and deinitely warrant an emergency review of the implementa­tion of the Act.

It emerges from the Minister’s replies to me that ive States (Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Telangana) have not even issued notiicatio­ns regarding admissions under the RTE. As readers will recall, Section 12(1)(c) of the Act mandates private unaided schools to reserve 25% of seats for children from economical­ly weaker sections (EWS), in the age bracket of six to 14 years. This enabled economical­ly marginalis­ed communitie­s to access high quality private schools, at the expense of the State. While Telangana may be excused due to its recent formation, it is unjustiiab­le that the other States have failed to undertake the most basic steps to implement Section 12(1)(c) of an Act passed eight years ago.

States have to notify per-child costs to pay the private schools, on behalf of the children admitted under this provision. However, out of 29 States and seven Union Territorie­s, only 14 have notiied their per-child costs. The provision does not apply to Jammu and Kashmir and there are no private schools in Lakshadwee­p; therefore, as per the data provided, a shocking 20 States/uts have still not notiied the per-child costs, a blatant violation of the letter and spirit of the RTE.

It is also shocking to note that in 2017-18, of the 15 States which submitted their reimbursem­ent claims to the Central government, only six were approved. Many of the claims of the States were not provided funds by the Centre, as they had not notiied the per-child costs. In response to my query regarding the number of children admitted, per State, under the Section 12(1)(c) in the last three years, 18 States have claimed that the question is not applicable to them, without giving any reason for this response. This could mean that in 18 States, poor children are not even beneiting under this Act. If there are no data to record the number of students being admitted, it begs the question as to how States are reimbursin­g private schools. The respective State government­s and the Centre should clarify this speciic point.

According to Indus Action, an organisati­on which works in 10 States speciicall­y on this provision, while there are higher order issues like the methodolog­y used by States to calculate the per-child cost and lack of coverage of ancillary costs in the reimbursem­ents, the absence of a streamline­d disburseme­nt framework both at the Central and State levels is one of the biggest reasons that reimbursem­ents are not processed. If the States are not provided suficient funds, private schools would be forced to bear the costs of the children. Civil society activists have informed me of instances of schools refusing to admit children under the RTE provision, citing non-payment of dues by State government­s.

The data regarding the number of children admitted under Section 12(1) (c) of the Act, in States which provided the igures, are also distressin­g. The number of children studying under this provision increased by 6,12,053 from 2014-2015 to 2015-16, but by 5,02,880 from 2015-16 to 2016-17. The State of the Nation 2015 report by IIM Ahmedabad, based on oficial data obtained from the District Informatio­n System for Education, puts the total number of seats under this provision as 1.6 crore over the next eight years. This means that 20 lakh seats should be available annually for EWS children in private schools under the Act; however, according to the answer of the Minister, only 5-6 lakh seats are being illed on an annual basis.

The Preamble to the Constituti­on states that the democratic Republic of India shall secure social, economic and political justice. Education is undoubtedl­y the most important element in the movement to secure this end. Although the Directive Principles of State Policy mandate the state to provide children the right to access education, and the 86th constituti­onal amendment and the RTE dictate its implementa­tion, it will only be fulilled if sincere efforts are made by the States under the guidance and prodding of a committed Centre.

The executive is responsibl­e for the implementa­tion of RTE and the legislatur­e has the duty to hold the executive accountabl­e. Neither – judging by the evidence – has done its job properly.

As the malaise regarding the nonimpleme­ntation of the RTE is spread acrossthec­ountry,thecentral­government should immediatel­y convene a meeting with all the State education ministers and review the implementa­tion of the law. The RTE aimed to provide a framework for private schools to supplement the efforts of the state to uplift disadvanta­ged sections of society through the means of education. We need to act immediatel­y to address the gaps in the implementa­tion of the law. The future of our children depends on it.

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