The Right to Education Act enacted in 2010 is still far from implementation in the holistic sense, felt experts at a round-table organised by the Andhra Pradesh State Right to Education (RTE) Forum here on Sunday.
According to former Union Energy Secretary E.A.S. Sarma, in the USA there were neighbourhood schools run and funded by the local body tax revenue and had the obligation of admitting all students in the neighbourhood without any discrimination. “But in our case it is not same. Corporate schools, despite getting the benefit of cheap land, are reluctant to admit students from all segments. They cater only to the rich,” he said.
He further said like in the case of private hospitals which were given land at a cheaper rate to set up their hospitals, the Delhi High Court had made it mandatory that they had to admit certain percentage of patients from the lower strata of society free of cost.
Agreeing with Mr. Sarma, forum State convener Narava Prakasa Rao said the corporate schools had obtained a stay from the High Court in AP with regard to fulfilling the obligation of admitting students from the BPL segment, but the onus was now on the State government to vacate the stay and see that the schools adhered to the Act.
“Till date it is seen that the State government has been siding with the corporate schools and we demand that they take the RTE Act in its true spirit,” said Mr. Prakasa Rao.
Though the Central government had been keen on the implementation of the RTE, it lacked enthusiasm from the State government side, he said.
White Paper sought
“We also demand that the State government come out with a White Paper on the status of the RTE Act and also increase the budgetary allocation from 10% to 20 % in the next budget, which would be tabled on March 8,” he said.
“The Government should invest sizeable amount on skill development, computer knowledge and audio visual equipment and employment of good teachers, if the Act is to be addressed holistically. Right now the standards of education in municipal and government schools is pathetic,” said Mr. Sarma.
