TEZPUR UNIVERSITY

EDUCATION ASSIGNMENT 2K17

PRESENTED BY:

1. Dimpol Bora ( CHB17002)

2. Darshana Saikia ( CHB17004)

3. Gaurab Borah (CHB17003)

DEPARTMENT: Chemical Sciences

Introduction:
The Right to Education Act, which came into force on 1st April, 2010 after
62 years of independence, has made free and compulsory education a
fundamental right of every child in the 6 to 14 age group. The Constitution
(Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the
Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all
children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in
such a manner as the State may, by law, determine. The Right of Children
to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the
consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every
child has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and
equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms
and standards.
Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010. The title of
the RTE Act incorporates the words free and compulsory. Free education
means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted by his or her
parents to a school which is not supported by the appropriate Government,
shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may
prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education.
Compulsory education casts an obligation on the appropriate
Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission,
attendance and completion of elementary education by all children in the
6-14 age group. With this, India has moved forward to a rights based
framework that casts a legal obligation on the Central and State
Governments to implement this fundamental child right as enshrined in
the Article 21A of the Constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the
RTE Act Now India has joined the group of those countries who provide
for a constitutional guarantee to free and compulsory education. The
enforcement of this Right has made it a joint responsibility of Central and
State Governments to provide free and compulsory education to all
children by all means. The present paper begins with a historical
perspective, outlines salient features of the Act, challenges of education,
implementation and funding.

Historical Perspective:
At the time of Independence, India inherited an educational system
which was not only quantitatively small but was also characterized by
striking gender and regional disparities. Only one child out of three had
been enrolled in primary school. Thus challenge was to provide elementary
education to all its children within a stipulated period of time.
Accordingly, universal education for all children in the 6-14 age group
became a constitutional provision by Article 45 of the Constitution. Special
care of the economic and educational interests of the under privileged
sections of the population also became a constitutional obligation. But these
constitutional provisions still remain unfulfilled. Government's
commitment to ensure elementary education for all children aged 6-14
years was later seen in its ambitious programme named 'Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan'.Free and compulsory elementary education was made a
fundamental right under Article 21A of the Constitution in December 2002
by the 86th Amendment. In bringing this into action, the 'Right of Children
to Free and Compulsory Education Bill' was drafted in 2005. This was
revised and became an Act in August 2009, but was enforced on 1st April
2010.The Right to Education Act will benefit about one crore out-of- school
children and a large number of drop-out children. As per an estimate, out
of 22 crore children in the 6-14 years age group in the country, 4.6 percent
children have no enrolment in any school.

CHALLENGES OF EDUCATION
1. According to latest estimates, some 3.5 million elementary school
children still not in school

2. Wide disparities in the educational status of different regions

3. Out of school children are from socially marginalized groups, especially

girls, working children, children of very poor families, and children in
difficult circumstances

4. Dropout rates at elementary level as high as 51 percent; rising to 62

percent at secondary level

5. 47 percent children in Class 5 are unable to read a Class 2 text

The Salient Features of the Act:

The Right to Education Act is a detailed and comprehensive piece of
legislation which includes provisions related to schools, teachers,
curriculum, evaluation, access and specific division of duties and
responsibilities of all concerned. Main features of the Act are as under:

1. Every child from 6 to 14 years of age shall have the right to free and
compulsory education in a neighborhood school till completion of
elementary education.
2. Private schools shall provide 25 percent reservation for weaker sections
and economically disadvantaged groups in the admission.
3. All schools except government schools are required to meet all
specified norms and standards within three years to avoid cancellation
of their recognition.
4. The Act calls for a fixed pupil-teacher ratio, i.e., 30:1.
5. The Act mandates improvement in quality of education.
6. Financial burden will be shared between Central and State
Governments.
7. Right of children to free and compulsory education till completion of
elementary education in a neighborhood school.

8. It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age

appropriate class.

9. It specifies the duties and responsibilities of appropriate Governments,

local authority and parents in providing free and compulsory education,
and sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and
State Governments.

10. It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil
Teacher Ratios (PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school-working days,
teacher-working hours.

11. It provides for rational deployment of teachers by ensuring that the

specified pupil teacher ratio is maintained for each school, rather than just
as an average for the State or District or Block, thus ensuring that there is
no urban-rural imbalance in teacher postings. It also provides for
prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-educational work, other than
decennial census, elections to local authority, state legislatures and
parliament, and disaster relief.

12. It provides for appointment of appropriately trained teachers, i.e.

teachers with the requisite entry and academic qualifications.

13. It prohibits

(a) Physical punishment and mental harassment

(b) Screening procedures for admission of children;

(c) Capitation fee;

(d) Private tuition by teachers

(e) Running of schools without recognition,

14. It provides for development of curriculum in consonance with the
values enshrined in the Constitution, and which would ensure the all-
round development of the child, building on the childs knowledge,
potentiality and talent and making the child free of fear, trauma and
anxiety through a system of child friendly and child centered learning.

IMPLEMENTATION AND FUNDING

Education Indian constitution is a concurrent issue and both centre and
states can legislate on the issue. The Act lays down specific responsibilities
for the centre, state and local bodies for its implementation. The states have
been clamoring that they lack financial capacity to deliver education of
appropriate standard in all the schools needed for universal education.
Thus it was clear that the central government (which collects most of the
revenue) will be required to subsidies the states.
A committee set up to study the funds requirement and funding initially
estimated that Rs 1710 billion. across five years was required to implement
the Act, and in April 2010 the central government agreed to sharing the
funding for implementing the law in the ratio of 65 to 35 between the
centre and the states, and a ratio of 90 to 10 for the north-eastern states.
However, in mid 2010, this figure was upgraded to Rs. 2310 billion, and the
center agreed to raise its share to 68% There is some confusion on this, with
other media reports stating that the centre's share of the implementation
expenses would now be 70%. At that rate, most states may not need to
increase their education budgets substantially.
A critical development in 2011 has been the decision taken in principle to
extend the right to education till Class X (age 16) and into the preschool age
range. The CABE committee is in the process of looking into the
implications of making this change.

Conclusion:
In order to meet the challenges and surmount the hurdles that stand in the
way of implementing Right to Education Act, it is needful to concentrate all
efforts with full dedication and commitment. Not only the central and state
governments but the nation as a whole should take responsibility in this
regard. Community participation and support can make marked difference
in achieving this goal. There exists a need for greater coordination amongst
different agencies and functionaries involved in this task. To overcome
population pressures and budgetary constraints, cost effectiveness and
accountability must be ascertained at every level. Efforts should be focused
on qualitative improvement of the whole programme.

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