The Right To Education (RTE) Act, being implemented since August 2009, is not on the ‘right track’, according to All India Primary Teachers’ Federation (AIPTF) president S. Rampal Singh and general secretary Kamalakant Tripathy. The AIPTF national leaders were in the city as part of the division of the AP State Primary Teacher’s Association into A.P. and Telangana State Primary Teacher’s Associations as a result of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into A.P. and Telangana.
The RTE was introduced to ensure free and compulsory education to the children up to the age of 14 years and whose parents are living below the poverty line. Lack of infrastructure in schools and inadequacy of teachers were telling upon the quality of education in government primary schools across the country, they told media persons, who met them on Wednesday.
“There are 13 lakh primary schools in India of which 11.8 per cent are single teacher schools. There is every need to provide quality education to poor children between 6 and 14 years of age. We feel that a strong union is needed to ensure quality education through proper implementation of the RTE. It has turned out to be a major challenge for the federation to ensure this aspect in A.P. and Telangana,” Mr. Rampal Singh said.
Around 40 per cent of the population in India was living below the poverty line. The dropout rate at the primary level was around 20 per cent. About 10 lakh primary teachers in the country were employed on ‘contract basis’ and there was wide disparity in the wage structure of regular and contract teachers, appointed in the same grade.
Pension scheme
They felt that the contract teachers could be given proper training and paid on par with their ‘regular’ counterparts. They also wanted continuation of the old pension scheme for those who had joined after 2004. Mr. Tripathi said that the new government in Andhra Pradesh was trying to promote private primary schools by extending support to the upcoming corporate companies and encouraging them to develop low-fee private schools. He said that the AIPTF was opposed to the PPP model schools as they would deter poor children from seeking admission into them.
Lack of infrastructure in schools and inadequacy of teachers are affecting the quality of education in government primary schools, say AIPTF leaders
