IN THE

INTEREST OF

EDUCATION

The Government of INDIA targets to guarantee

elementary education to children between the age of 6

and 14 years; it expects to increase access to

education & improve the quality of education being

provided through the RTEA. Challenge and opportunity

to citizens to help our elected government.

Contents

1.Intro of RTEA-2009

2. Primary education

3. Elementary edu.

4.Norms of RTEA

5.Various concerns

6.Present Scenario

7.Free, high quality

8. State & Union duties

9. Union has done a lot

10. Debate since April 1

11.Types of schools

12. Education as market

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The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory

Education Act _ RTEA- 2009

The 86th constitutional amendment [2002] has made elementary education a fundamental right for the children between the age group- 6 to 14, with the RTE Act passed by the India parliament in 2009.

It provides for free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution.

The act came into force on April 1, 2010. Earlier, programs like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),

Mid-day meal schemes and Kasturba Gandhi Balika

Vidyalayas have been already been functioning.

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Right to Education Act – 2009

The act also provides that, no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until completion of elementary education.

Provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them at-par with the students of the same age.

Right to Education of Person with Disabilities till 18 years of age has been made a Fundamental Right.

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The act also provides for

establishment of the National

Commission for Protection of

Child Rights and State

Commissions for supervising

of proper implementation of the

act, looking after the complaints

and protection of Child Rights.

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Primary education

Education, primary education in particular, is

expected to bring about desirable behavioral

changes in young children in the areas of:

(1) knowledge and understanding,

(2) skill and competence,

(3) attitudes and interest, and

(4) action patterns.

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Primary education

Primary education, thus, is the foundation for the development of the child in his social, intellectual, and physical aspects.

The school is required to inculcate the cultural values and prepare the child for various developmental tasks of his life.

It should promote expression of his innate qualities of head, heart and hand, to their maximum capacities.

Education is the basic necessity for a child to grow into a responsible citizen.

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Elementary Education in India

Elementary education is preparatory. It prepares the

pupil to go on to something else, and put his foot on

the first step of the ladder of knowledge.

Primary education must do everything possible to

make pupils feel that they belong to a society, to knit

them into a social fabric, and make them aware of

their social responsibilities.

The objectives of elementary education are (i) to

enable self-realization; (ii) to develop better human

relations, and (iii) to enable fulfillment to civic

responsibilities.

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Elementary education consists of eight

years of education.

According to the 2001 census, the total

literacy rate in India is 65.38%.

The female literacy rate is only 54.16%.

The gap between rural and urban literacy rate

is also very significant in India.

This is evident from the fact that only 59.4%

of rural population are literate as against 80.

3% urban population according to the 2001

census.

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Norms for government / private

schools The Act specifies the minimum norms in

government as well as private schools.

It specifies reservation of 25% seats in private

schools also for children from poor families,

prohibits the practice of unrecognized schools,

and makes provisions for no donation or

capitation and no interview of the child or parent

for the admission.(This is under judicial scrutiny

now)

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Norms for SCHOOLS: RT E A

Other provisions regarding improvement of school

infrastructure,

teacher-student ratio and

faculty have also been provided in the act.

A committee set up to study the funds requirement and

funding estimated that Rs 1.71 lakh crore would be

required in the next five years for implementing the Act.

The government agreed to sharing of funds in the ratio of

65 to 35 between the Centre and the states for

implementing the law, with a ratio of 90 to 10 for the

north-eastern states.

EVERYBODY ACKNOWLEDGES THE

VALUE OF EDUCATION IN THE OVERALL

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN.

Struggle for universalizing

elementary education

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Administrators focus on

Enrolment

Availability of schools within walking distance

Provisioning for infrastructure

Deployment of teachers

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What is Learnt, how is it presented?

Whether or how children learn, and the

Burden of syllabi, which is passed on to

Tuition centres or Parents

Educationists are concerned about

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• Development professionals discuss

The impact of years of schooling, for example

on the age of marriage and family size.

Economists talk about the economic returns

on Investment in education

Parents have expectations from the

education system_ that it should equip their

children for gainful employment, and

economic well being.

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Fulfill goals of

universal elementary education

The enforcement of fundamental

right to education provides us a

unique opportunity to mount a

mission encompassing all the

above discourses to fulfill our goal

of universal elementary education.

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Education System in India:

The present education system in India mainly comprises of primary education, secondary education, senior secondary education and higher education.

Elementary education consists of eight years of education.

Each of secondary and senior secondary education consists of two years of education. Higher education in India starts after passing the higher secondary education or the 12th standard.

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Dropped out, child labourers

There are „invisible‟ children_ children bonded to work with an employer,

young boys grazing cattle or working in a dhabha

girls working in the fields or as domestic help or caring for younger siblings, and

children being subjected to early marriage. Many of these children are formally enrolled in a school but have either dropped out or have never been there.

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Extremely vulnerable ones

Many others such as migrant and

street children, who live in

extremely vulnerable conditions;

denying them education is against

the universal nature of human

rights.

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Enrol, attend, learn, and

Be empowered by education

Providing universal access itself is no longer

enough; making available school facility is

essential but not sufficient.

A monitoring mechanism is needed to ensure

that all children attend school regularly and

participate in the learning process.

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Not attending, drop-out in a few months?

Focus must be on the factors that

prevent children from regularly

attending & completing elementary

education. Children from

weaker sections and

disadvantaged groups, as also

girls.

SOCIAL,CULTURAL,ECONOMIC,

LINGUISTIC AND PEDAGOGIC ISSUES

Large student population of India

India has a large student population with over

13.5cr pupils in primary education. India has

the second-largest population in the world of

over 110cr people (1.1bn), with a literacy rate of

61%.

Educating such a large population is not only

an expensive task but also a very difficult one.

This task is being handled primarily by the

government through its school infrastructure

and large Budgetary outlays..

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India has approximately 2,50,000 private schools,

present generally in urban clusters and about

3,00,000 „budget schools‟ with tight budget.

These schools share a sizable load of educating

the Indian student population and satisfy demand

for quality of education and infrastructure by the

Indian middle and elite class. To provide quality

education, these schools are on always on the

look-out for better content, which is also provided

by the education companies.

The Economic Times Mumbai

Date: Nov 23, 2010

The Right to Education (RTE) Act threatens the very existence of

about 300,000 budget schools. Their fate now rests with the states,

says John Samuel Raja D.

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As Tamil Nadu gets

ready to implement the

Right to Education

(RTE) Act, private

schools, parents,

educationists and NGOs

appear sceptical about

key clauses of the

legislation. Ensuring

quality education and a

stable teacher-pupil

ratio may prove to be

stumbling blocks on the

road to achieving free

and compulsory

education for all. more

slideshows

Stumbling blocks to RTE Act

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Reservation of 25% seats in private

schools for children from poor families

The school may be

there but students may

not attend, or drop out

after a few months.

Through school & social

mapping, many issues

need to be addressed

that prevent a weak

child from completing

the process of

education.

Social, economic,

cultural, linguistic,

pedagogic issues

Denial or violation of

the right to

elementary education

process requires to be

overcome with the

encouragement and

enlightenment of the

weak & vulnerable.

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Free, compulsory and of high quality

The right to education is free, compulsory and

it includes good quality education for all.

A curriculum not only provides good reading

and understanding of text books but also

includes learning through activities,

exploration and discovery.

Comprehension, competence,

competitiveness and creativity should be

developed, not forgetting compassion.

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Free, compulsory and of high quality

The right to education is free, compulsory and

it includes good quality education for all.

A curriculum not only provides good reading

and understanding of text books but also

includes learning through activities,

exploration and discovery.

Comprehension, competence,

competitiveness and creativity should be

developed, not forgetting compassion.

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Education Depts of State & Union

Governments have direct responsibility

To provide

schools,

infrastructure,

trained teachers,

curriculum and

teaching-learning material, and

mid-day meal.

A well coordinated mechanism is needed for

inter- sectoral collaboration & convergence.

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On the part of the whole Govts:

The factors that contribute to the

achievement of the overall goal of

universalizing elementary education as

a fundamental right requires action on

the part of the whole Governments.

A well coordinated mechanism is needed for

inter- sectoral collaboration & convergence.

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Timely & appropriate financial

allocations, redesign school spaces

The Finance Department to release

funds at all levels.

The Public Works Dept. to re-conceive

and redesign school spaces from the

pedagogic perspective & Address

issues of including disabled children

through barrier free access.

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Provide Social & Location Mapping of

schools, Water & sanitation facilities

The Dept. of Science & Technology to

provide geo-spatial technology to

perform at

grass-root survey.

Provision of access to sufficient safe

drinking water

Provision and access to adequate

sanitation facilities, specially for girl

child.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCEITY in RTE

Above all, people‟s groups, civil society

organizations & voluntary agencies will play

an crucial role in the implementation of the

RTE Act.

This will help build a new perspective on

inclusiveness, encompassing gender & social

inclusion, & ensure that these become

integral & crosscutting concerns informing

different aspects like training, curriculum and

classroom transaction.

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ROLE OF CIVIL SOCEITY

A VIBRANT CIVIL SOCEITY MOVEMENT

CAN ENSURE THAT THE PARENT / CHILD

FROM WEAKER OR DISADVANTAGED

SECTIONS BECOME AWARE OF THE

VALUE OF EXERCISING THE RIGHT TO

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND PUT IN

SERIOUS EFFORTS ON THEIR PART.

NGO contribution of knowledge, ideas and

solutions to the challenges are needed.

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:

"We are committed to ensuring that

all children, irrespective of gender

and social category, have access to

education. An education that

enables them to acquire the skills,

knowledge, values and attitudes

necessary to become responsible

and active citizens of India

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The 86th constitutional amendment (2002),

And the RTE Act (2009), have given us the

tools to provide quality education to all our

children. It is now imperative that we the

people of India join hands to ensure the

implementation of this law in its true spirit.

The Government is committed to this task

though real change will happen through

collective action.

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What has the Indian State

done in order to give effect to this

Fundamental Right as enshrined in

Article 21A?

A great deal, Read on …..

To improve access to and taking care of the quality aspect of

education:

The government has introduced programs like

the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Mid-day

meal schemes and Kasturba Gandhi Balika

Vidyalayas. These schemes stress on the

following: Increase the number of schools to

provide access to all, Improve infrastructure of

existing and new schools by building more

classrooms and amenities, Reduce gender

inequality, Recruit more teachers and train

them to impart education more effectively.

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RTEA

Implementation

April 2010 to January 2011:

Disputes

OF NON-GOVERNMENT

SECTOR

Supreme Court on Friday (Oct-01, 2010) admitted

a writ petition filed by state’s CBSE schools

to amend certain clauses in the RTE Act.

The petition was filed under the aegis of Karnataka's

Management of Independent CBSE Schools

Association (KMICSA).

The case has been tagged along with other similar

cases which are pending in the court. The petition will

now be heard by a constitutional bench of five

judges.

“We would like to know what the government is doing

to upgrade the facilities like infrastructure in its

schools which constitute nearly 93% of the schools in

the country.” said Mansoor Ali Khan, general

secretary, KMICSA.

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The writ petition of the society for Private Unaided Schools

of Rajasthan challenging the constitutional

validity of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education

Act, 2009 (aka RTE Act);

• Article 15(5) of the Constitution inserted by the

Constitution (Ninety-Third Amendment) Act, 2005; and

• Article 21-A inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-Sixth

Amendment) Act, 2002,

• was admitted for hearing by the Supreme Court on

September 5 and listed as Writ Petition (C) No.95 of

2010.

The prayers (requests) made to the justices of the apex

court in the writ petition are:

(A) Declare the right of Children to Free and

Compulsory Education Act, 2009 unconstitutional as

being ultra vires the Constitution and / or strike down ss.

3, 4, 6, 11-15, 17, 23(i), 24 (i) (d) and 29-30 of the Act.

Background. S. 3 of the RTE Act entitles every child in

the age group six-14 to avail free and compulsory

education in a neighbourhood school till completion of

elementary education (class VIII). Under s.2 (i) (iv) even

private unaided schools “not receiving any kind of aids of

grants… from the appropriate Government or the local

authority” are included in the definition of „school‟.

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The main grievance of the petitioner is that

under s. 12 (1) (c)

private independent / unaided schools

“shall admit in class I to the extent of at least

twenty-five percent of the strength of that class

children belonging to weaker section and

disadvantaged group (sic) in the neighbourhood

and provide free and compulsory elementary

education till its completion”.

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The petitioner‟s contention is that s. 12(1) (c) contravenes

the Supreme Court‟s 11- judge verdict in

the T.M.A . Pai Foundation vs. Union of India & Ors

(2002) (8 SCC 481), which ruled that

• under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution, all citizens

have a fundamental right to carry on the “occupation”

of education provision and in particular to

(transparently) admit students of their choice (on merit)

and to levy reasonable tuition fees to generate

surpluses for the growth and development of their

education institutions.

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The right of private unaided education

institutions to admit students

of their choice was reaffirmed and

reiterated by the apex court in P. A. Inamdar

Case (2005) (6 SCC 537), argues the

petitioner.

Declare Article 15(5) inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-

Third Amendment) Act, 2005 invalid and “violative of the

basic structure of the Constitution”.

Background. In 2005 the UPA-I government, revived

a proposal of the Mandal Commission (1980) to

legislate additional 27 percent reservation ( i. e., in

addition to the reservation of 22.5 percent in favour of

scheduled castes and scheduled tribes) in all Central

government institutions of higher education for other

backward castes / classes (OBCs).

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• This proposal was unanimously approved by

Parliament in December 2005 which

under the Constitution (Ninety-Third) Amendment Act,

2005 enacted a new Article 15(5).

• This constitutional amendment was challenged in

Ashok Kumar Thakur’s Case (2008) (6 SCC 1).

Upholding the 93rd Amendment vis-à-vis government

and private aided institutions (but recommending pro

rata capacity expansion to accommodate merit

students).

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• The court withheld judgment on the applicability of the

93rd Amendment to private unaided institutions for

want of challenge.

• Now in the instant case, the petitioner has challenged

the constitutional validity of the 93rd Amendment and

Article 15(5).

Declare Article 21-A inserted following the enactment

of the Constitution (Eighty-Sixth Amendment) Act,

2002 constitutionally invalid.

Background. Article 21-A mandates the State to provide

free and compulsory education to all children between

ages six-14. The 86th Amendment has been challenged

because it enables the RTE Act and / or its impugned

provisions as set out in prayer (a) above which became

effective from April 1, 2010.

PETITIONS IN COURT AGAINST THE

MODALITY OF ACT

The petitioners contended that the Act had

included all sorts of schools within its

ambit in violation of the law.

“ The Act is violative of the fundamental right

of private unaided schools enshrined under

Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution and the

minority schools enshrined under Articles 29

and 30 of the Constitution.”

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They submitted that though the Act was brought

in to make India a knowledge hub, it had

“serious flaws.”

“The Act (i) completely fails to address the

issue of quality education.(ii) It discriminates

between children by applying the faulty

concept of neighborhood schools, (iii) is silent

on pre-primary education for children

between 3 to 6 years,(iv) makes no mention

of the learning levels of children etc.”

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A five-judge Constitution Bench of the

Supreme Court will hear a batch of petitions

• filed by several private unaided and minority

schools

• challenging the government's new Right to

Education Act, 2009, which guarantees free

and compulsory education for all children

between 6 and 14 years of age in the country.

• Under this law, every child aged 6 to 14 shall

have the right to free and compulsory

education in a neighbourhood school till

elementary education. Continued…

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A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia

and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter

Kumar referred the petitions to a Constitution

Bench after counsel for the petitioners pointed out

that several constitutional provisions required

interpretation.

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Private schools have become the institution of first

choice for the children of the elite and even of the middle

classes.

India has provided highly stratified private schools in

order to cater to different classes of people. These

institutions are delivering “good “results for their

respective clients.

Given the size of our population and the magnitude of

illiteracy, no transformation is possible through the

model of privatisation and by seeking to transform

private institutions bear the load of weaker section.

There is no short cut except to make an expanded

Government school system to function.

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In order to strengthen the campaign against inequitable

schooling, the first step is to prioritise and strengthen

government schools across the country.

The problem of education today is largely attributable to

a complete loss of faith in the quality of existing

government schools. Therefore, purely with a view to

achieving a strategic interim victory in people‟s struggle

for the implementation of the right to FCE, the crisis of

public schools and the problem of „public versus private

schools‟ may have to be temporarily

separated.

This would ensure that the private schools‟ lobby does

not derail the entire process of legislating. To this end,

legislations for FCE should be divided into two stages.

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• First, any legislation for Free-Compulsory-Education

should be limited to addressing issues pertaining to

public schools, i.e., government schools.

• At a later stage, the first law should be supplemented

by another that addresses private schools and the

problems of inequality created by „public versus private‟

schools

• Therefore, all issues should be first debated and

threshed out in the context of public (govt.) schools in

order to build a very strong, clear policy regarding

public (govt.) schools across India. However, it

should be noted that these issues are also relevant in

the context of private schools (both aided and

unaided)..

Private schools shy away from implementing

RTE provisions _Shoeb Khan, TNN,

Jan 5, 2011, 05.18am IST, JAIPUR: It came

as a rude shock for parents of

economically weaker sections (EWS)

whose wards were denied admission

under the Right to Education Act, which

guarantees 25% reservation in schools at

entry level. Most schools don't seem

inclined to implement the provisions of

the RTE Act as the state government has

failed to frame rules in this regard.

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• A few schools are not even accepting the

forms under this category, while others are

asking the parents to submit

complete set of documents including income

and domicile certificates.

• There is so much confusion that many parents

do not even understand the modalities of the

act. NGOs too have failed to raise awareness

about the act among the public.

• As a result, few parents under the EWS

category have dared to approach the premier

schools for their child's admission.

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"I can never think of sending my children

to a private English-medium school but I

have dared to purchase an admission

form of a known private school in the city

hoping that they will abide by the law,"

said Rajnish Sharma, a clerk in a private

engineering college.

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While at the face value schools have welcomed

the RTE provisions, but have demanded some

changes in the clauses. Damodar Goyal,

president, Society for Unaided Schools in

Rajasthan argued that schools should be allowed

to fill the vacant reserve category seats with

general candidates so that they do not incur

losses. "Fees is the main source of income for the

schools. If the Centre doesn't give any subsidy for

taking 25% students from weaker sections, then

schools will be left with no choice but to pass the

burden on to the other 75% students," said Goyal.

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He also argued against the provision that defines weaker

section children as those who belong to a BPL family.

"This doesn't define the BPL family either.

• The Act should have a clause under which BPL family

having a BPL card from a competent authority can

avail of the benefit," said Goyal. He also objected to

Part 5 of Rule 5 which states that local authority shall

ensure that names of all children enrolled in the

schools under its jurisdiction must be displayed at the

school notice board.

• Advocate Munish Kumar Sharma said, "If any school

refuses admission to a child fulfilling the criteria under

the EWS category, the parent can challenge it in the

court."

Schools, government headed for face-off?

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times

Public schools and the Delhi government

could be headed for a clash over the issue

of the fee structure in the next academic

session, 2011-12. Representing the views of

the 1,950 unaided schools in the city,

Action Committee, an association of private

unaided schools, said on Thursday that

schools should be given full autonomy in

fixing the fee. Schools usually increase

their fee by up to 10% every year.

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This year, however, the fee hike could be more

to accommodate 25% students from the

economically weaker sections (EWS)

of society under the Right to Education (RTE)

Act. The Delhi government had, earlier this

month, ruled out any possibility of fee hike in

private schools.

"Schools should have full autonomy in

deciding appointment of teachers and fee

structures. How can the government interfere

in such matters?” asked SK Bhattacharya,

president, Action Committee.

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"The reimbursement that is to be provided to private schools

by the government for EWS is a misnomer,” said K L Luthra,

general secretary, Action Committee.

"Providing education to all is not the responsibility

of the private sector... the government should be

responsible,” added Bhattacharya.

The association also questioned how the

government, which collects 3% education cess,

has utilized the money.

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That RTE is going through several amendments is

only natural given its ambitious intent and sweep.

The first round of amendment in the RTE

is already with the parliamentary standing

committee. Amendments pertain to giving the

advisory role to the School Management

Committee in minority educational institutions and

widening the scope of `child with disability' so that

it includes persons suffering from autism, cerebral

palsy, mental retardation and other disabilities.

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The government is also seized of another

amendment; the one that seeks to give SMCs an

advisory role in all aided schools. This

amendment was suggested by Kerala politicians

who said letting minority schools have SMCs in

an advisory role and not giving the same

privilege to aided schools will put the latter in a

disadvantageous position.

Education Services

India is one of the world’s largest

education markets

Education Companies in India

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Currently, there are no listed players in this segment in India.

The largest pre-school player is KidZee, part of Essel Group

(Zee Group).

It has over 700 centres across 265 cities in India and

abroad. Apart from KidZee, the pre-school market is very

fragmented and going by the way the concept is catching up

in India,

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we expect some consolidation in this space mainly

by listed players like Educomp, which

has already entered the K12 segment and has

indicated intentions to cater to the pre-school

segment.

The big advantage in the pre-school segment is

that it is not capital intensive and can generate

positive cash flows as early as second year of

operations currently.

K12 Segment:

In the K12 segment, formal education is

imparted to children. It starts with lower kinder

garten (LKG) till XII standard, following which,

students go for professional education.

Currently, most schools are run by non-profit

charitable institutions. In the past few years,

urban areas, in particular, have witnessed

rapid growth in number of private unaided

schools.

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This was mainly due to resource crunch in public (Govt)

schools, which suffer from high rates of teacher

absenteeism.

Private schools are divided into two types namely;

recognised schools and

unrecognised schools.

Some famous schools include Delhi Public School

(DPS), Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) and Ramakrishna

Mission Schools. Setting up of schools involves huge

initial investment to be made. The break even period is

about 4-5 years per school.

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The schools are controlled either by the State Government

Boards, the Central Board of Secondary Education

(CBSE), the Council for the Indian School Certificate

Examination (ISCE) board or the National Open School.

Also, some international Schools such as the Dhirubhai

Ambani International School are part of the education

system.

As per DISE (District Information System for Education)

estimates, there were ~1.1mn schools in India with 4.7mn

teachers providing K-12 education to ~230mn students in

2006.

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India is one of the world’s largest education

markets, with 445mn of the 1.1bn population

comprising the target group (5-24 age) of the

education sector. India needs to address its

high illiteracy and drop-out rates as well as

shortage of skilled workforce to sustain

multi-year high-growth.

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Recognising access-to education as the key

focus area for continued current economic

growth momentum, the Government is

allocating huge resources to the sector.

Simultaneously, the private sector is poised to

take advantage of the huge opportunity in the

sector, given quality of education fast gaining

importance due to rising middle-class income.

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Access-to-education – Key focus area.

Recognising the importance of education

for sustaining economic growth momentum, the

Government has committed itself to providing

basic/primary education through initiatives such as

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), utilising

Information & Communication Technology (ICT) to

the bridge digital divide. It has not only increased

outlay on education, but has also encouraged

responsible participation by private players.

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Private players for responsible role to

participate in the huge multi-year growth

opportunity by:

i) providing digital content to K-12 schools,

ii) setting up own preschools and K-12

schools,

iii) undertaking large ICT projects,

iv) vocational training/skill development,

and

v) online/offline tutoring.