RTE effect: EWS students shine in studies, shatter myths
LUCKNOW: The parents of fiveyear-old Kaifiya are over the moon. Kaifiya, who got admission in KK Academy, secured first position in the classroom and is popular among her friends . The girl’s father is a daily wager and mother a homemaker and both say Kaifiya would probably not have gone to school had it not been for RTE Section 12.
Similarly, siblings Mayank, 4 and Tanya, 5, got admission in Rani Laxmibai School, Vikas Nagar. Their father is an electrician and struggles to make ends meet. Mayank secured first position with straight A+ in all subjects and five stars. Tanya was second. These students have proved that it is unfair to assume that poor kids are inherently poor in studies. Given the right opportunities, they too can scale heights just like any other child.
Last year, around 700 children got enrolled in 102 schools of Lucknow under the RTE, said Samina Bano, RTE crusader and founder, chairperson at Bharat Abhyudaya Foundation. “Around 4,400 admissions were made across 26 districts of UP in the last academic session. Now that the admission season has started, a number of other students would be enrolled,” she added.
Critics of RTE Section 12 that mandates every private school to reserve 25% seats in nursery/Class 1 for disadvantaged as well as economically weaker section(EWS), often quote the psychological, social and academic challenges that a poor child might face among privileged kids. Shattering many such myths, fears and perception, several EWS children had proved with their one year performances that these are just a creation of prejudiced minds rather than reality, Samina said.
Sample this: Arpit got admission in City Montessori School. His father Akash is a carpenter. Arpit scored full marks in many subjects. His father said that he had observed tremendous change in Arpit’s behaviour, mannerisms and confidence level.
BAF had recently invited these students to its office and organised an informal meeting with their parents wherein they shared their experiences .These students who come from humble backgrounds are not only performing extraordinarily well in academics by winning various awards and certificates but are also improvising on their social skills and emotional well-being.
These students who would otherwise not be attending any school or in some cases a government school, are breaking the misconception of people who stereotype a student’s performance in academics to his or her socio -economic background. These children are coping beautifully in a new environment that not only provides quality education but also helps develop their personality.
However, this was not easy. “UP had been the worst performer in RTE implementation over four years as the number of admissions made under this act were almost negligible (54 in 2014). With the intervention and extensive efforts of Bharat Abhyudaya Foundation and collaboration with state government, the number of admissions rose to 4400 across 26 districts of UP in 2015,” Samina said.