‘Closing of schools a hurdle for RTE Act’

December 19, 2014 08:29 am | Updated 08:29 am IST - CHENNAI:

Even though it has been five years since the enactment of the Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, it has not been implemented in its true spirit, say activists.

According to Reni Jacob, advocacy director of World Vision India, one of the main issues with its implementation is the closing or merging of ‘uneconomical’ schools. “In many states, schools that have fewer than 20 students in primary sections and less than 75 students for secondary education are being closed or merged. This means schools are not located within 1 km of the residence of students, especially those from vulnerable sections,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of a workshop on the implementation of RTE, held here recently.

Rama Kant Rai, convenor of the National Coalition for Education (NCE), said most states had not yet completed the mapping of schools to determine if they were located within a 1-km radius for students. “The age of compulsory education should also be extended to 18 years,” he said.

On the subject of school management committees (SMCs), Mr. Rai said in most schools, the SMC had parents who could not afford to give up their daily wages. “Whenever they come for a meeting, they are forced to give up a day’s salary and are not compensated for it,” he said.

The NCE, along with World Vision, has been conducting region-wise meetings with teachers. At the recent southern region meet, teachers and stakeholders from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana provided evidence on how the implementation of RTE had failed. The evidence gathered would be the basis for filing a public interest litigation, a release said.

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