“Community must do its part for right to education”

Kapil Sibal

The community will itself have to ensure that provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, are implemented in letter and in spirit, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said in an interaction with the media here on Wednesday.

To be operationalised from April 1, the Right to Education Act describes the modalities of provision of education to children aged 6-14 as a Fundamental Right under Article 21A of the Constitution. The law specifies the minimum norms in government schools and provides for reservation of 25 per cent seats in private schools for children from poor families, and prohibits unrecognised schools. No donation or capitation fee should be collected, nor should an interview of the child or the parent be held for admission.

Once implemented, the Act would mean no barriers to and no denial of admission, including for the differently-abled, but schools would have to be given some time to provide facilities for such children, Mr. Sibal said. Schools must be community-managed and the government would begin providing funds for setting up neighbourhood schools.

25 per cent quota

The 25 per cent reservation for children from economically weaker sections would be given from class I with effect from 2011. By the end of 12 years, 25 per cent of admissions under this category would be filled up.

Admitting that finding teachers in rural areas is a major challenge, Mr. Sibal said teachers must come from within the community and it must ensure that the RTE Act provisions were not violated. “I cannot check every neighbourhood school. The State and the community should respond to violations.”