RTE Act: A Closer Look

RTE Act otherwise known as "The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act"  was passed by the Indian parliament on 4 August 2009. This acts aims to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right.

The main features of this Act are:
It prohibits (a) physical punishment and mental harassment; (b) screening procedures for admission of children; (c) capitation fee; (d) private tuition by teachers and (e) running of schools without recognition,

• Right or children to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary education( class 8th) in a neighborhood school.
• Right of transfer to other schools
• It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age appropriate class.
• It is the duty and responsibility of appropriate Governments, local authority and parents in providing free and compulsory education. It also ensures the sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and State Governments.
• It prohibits (a) physical punishment and mental harassment; (b) screening procedures for admission of children; (c) capitation fee; and (d) running of schools without recognition,
• Unaided Schools i.e. privately owned schools should admit in class 1, a minimum of 25% of the strength of the class, from children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged group.These schools should have school management committee. 75% of the members should be parents.
• It lays down the norms and standards relating  to Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school-working days, teacher-working hours.

Pupil Teacher Ratio

Classes                    Children                         No. of Teachers

1st-5th                     0-60                                  2

                               61-90                                3

                               91-120                              4

                              121-200                             5

                                >150                               5+headmaster

                                >200                                PTR< 40

6th-8th                                                            Atleast one teacher per class.

                                                                       at least one teacher each for- 

                                                                       (a) Science and Mathematics.         

                                                                       (b) Social Studies; (c) Languages.

                                                                        PTR<35

                                 >100                               a full time Head-teacher

                                                                        Part Time instructors for Art

                                                                        P.E.T. and Work Education.

                                                                       

                                                                        

Buildings

All-weather building consistmg of-

 (1) at least one class-room for every teacher and an office-cum-store-cum-Head teacher's room; 

 (2) barrier-free access; 

 (3) separate toilets for boys and girls; 

 (4) safe and adequate drinking water facility to all children; 

 (5) a kitchen where mid-day meal is cooked in the school; 

 (6) Playground;

 (7) arrangement for securing the school building by boundary wall or fencing.

Min. School-working days:  200 working days, 800 hrs for 1st-5th

                                               220 working days, 1000 hrs for 6th-8th 

 Min. Teacher-working hours: 45 hrs

Criticisms:

• The definition of elementary education is itself faulty. It states Elementary education is upto 8th class. What will a child do studying till 8th class. It doesn't make any sense .It should be made till 10th class.  Most importantly what about those 25% children in private unaided schools. What will happen to them???
• This act excludes the state J&K. I don't understand why our successive govts. have treated J&K separate from the rest of the country.
• Section 16 of the RTE Act states that no child shall be failed in any class or expelled from school till he or she completes elementary education. This will surely reduce the quality of students as there is no incentive for them to study. Recent studies have concluded steady fall in standards of education. Exams used to act as a feedback mechanism for both students and teachers.
•  Schools which do not have a certificate of recognition from the local authority or government shall no longer be allowed to function. There are lot of private unrecognized schools, although they lack infrastructure like playground and permanent building, the education imparted there is better than many govt. schools. The Act calls for shutting down such schools, which will inherently lead to corruption, as shutting schools is in no one's best interest. The parents will also have to  bear the money paid as bribes to inspecting authorities.
• 25% reservation is made for children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged group. The Govt. reimburse the private unaided schools based on  per-child expenditure in government schools. So it is quite obvious the schools will increase the fees for the rest 75%. Also there is no clarity about the weaker sections and disadvantaged group. What will happen if there are less than 25% applicants from weaker sections and disadvantaged group? Will the seats remain vacant???
• Section 24 of the Act is concerned about the standards of teachers, While it is encouraging that Delhi, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have over 96 per cent professionally qualified teachers there are other States that have less than 70 per cent.
• Section 17 of the act prohibits physical punishment and mental harassment on children. While the ban on physical punishment is appropriate, there is no proper definition to what constitutes mental harassment.