Does the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 apply from pre-primary rather than first standard as is being interpreted by school managements?
While some managements contend that the Act is applicable for children from the age of six, and that implies pre-primary is not part of RTE, State government officials argue that applicability to the pre-primary stage is logical as the Act comes into force at the “entry level”.
The argument gains ground as there has been a call, since a long time, for inclusion of early childhood care and education (ECCE) within the ambit of the Act. Now, the sudden surge in the implementation of the Act from this academic year has presented an opportunity for this to become a reality, almost by default.
Ambiguity
The State government's stand that the RTE is applicable from the “entry level”, implying that the 25 per cent quota for children from socially and economically backward backgrounds applies to the first level in a particular school, has led to some ambiguity.
The point of contention is that the Act specifies the age group of 6 to 14, for which it is applicable. Children admitted to pre-primary school belong to the below six age group (they are usually three years old).
G. Kumar Naik, Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education, maintained that the Act clearly said that the 25 per cent reservation applied from the “entry level”, be it pre-primary school or first standard.
However, school managements question how pre-primary can be included under the RTE.
As B. Gayethri Devi from the Association of ICSE Schools in Karnataka said: “When we were briefed about the Act, we were told that admitting disadvantaged students and taking care of their education from the first to eighth standards was where our responsibility ended. The inclusion of pre-primary means we have an additional three years' burden.”
The applicability of the RTE to pre-primary school also brings up the question of how a six-year-old is supposed to adjust in a class full of three-year-olds.
“We have not got any communication regarding how these students should be accommodated. We have been asked to wait for further notifications,” Ms. Devi said.
