Paramita Sarkar, WBEN and Right to Education Bill 2008

[PalashKL]

Paramita Sarkar, WBEN and Right to Education Bill 2008

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 63

Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
Challenges of Primary Education in India
Challenges of Primary Education in India. ... Early childhood
education in India is subject to two extreme but contrary
deficiencies. On the one hand, ...
chennaionline.com/education/2001/primary1.asp - 39k - Cached - Similar
pages
Education in India: Primary Education
Primary education for profit likely to be allowed in India .....
Making Primary Education Work for India's Rural Poor: A Case for
Effective Decentralization ...
prayatna.typepad.com/education/primary_education/ - 73k - Cached -
Similar pages

India: Politics of Starvation - Social and Economic Policy ...
It is a situation of the cruelest irony for even as the death toll
from starvation mounts and hundreds waste away without food to eat,
India’s granaries ...
www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/2002/1112starvation.htm - 16k -
Cached - Similar pages - Note this
India has new nightmare: Epidemic, starvation-India-The Times of India
28 Dec 2004 ... India has new nightmare: Epidemic, starvation ... Get
the replica of your favourite edition of Times of India Feel at
home. ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/973671.cms - 41k - Cached -
Similar pages - Note this
I met a young girl from Cooch Bihar, north Bengal today in Bharat
Sabha, Indian Association Hall in a Seminar on Right to Education Bill
2008, organised by 2008. I am an outsider in the field of education
and was enlightened by the discourse between Teachers Associations,
Mass Organisations, NGOs and individual concerned.

I had to address the seminar and I had just five minutes to voice my
concern.

Prof. Mrinmoy Bhattacharya from Ramakrishna Mission, well known for
heading All India Principals` Association, presided over the seminar
who was very tough in moderation and created space for all
participants sharing their opinions and experiences.

ABTA (All Bengal Teachers Association), ACT, Nikhil Bangiya Prathamik
Sikkhak Samiti, WBEN (West Bengal Education Network),Lok Kalyan
Parishad, Bharat Sabha(Indian association), Bithari Disha, PRIZM, G-
NESEP, All India council of Mass Education, Kajla Jana Klyan Samiti
and some other prominent organisations active on grass root level were
represented by district level delegates in the Seminar.


With an eye on the general elections likely to take place within a
year, the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) plans to speedily
clear the Right to Education Bill, which calls for reserving seats for
the poor in private schools and enforces quality standards in
government schools.According to officials familiar with the
development who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Union cabinet
plans to take up the Bill, pending clearance since 2005, on Friday. A
copy of the latest draft, prepared in February, was reviewed by
Mint.Apart from guaranteeing education to all children in the age
group of 6-14 years, the Bill promises that 25% of seats would be
reserved for the poor in private schools. The schools will be
compensated with grants by the Union or state governments.

The Bill makes an exceptions for schools such as Kendriya Vidyalayas,
which are exempted from providing free education to the poor.

Nevertheless, the government might take on all the financial burden of
the ambitious Rs.12.5 billion a year proposal to provide compulsory
education to children all over the country after the states expressed
their reluctance to bankroll the scheme.The scheme had been riddled
with problems from the start as states rejected the central
government's proposal to share one-fourth of the funds for the
purpose. Now, however, the union government is considering taking on
90 percent or maybe all the costs involved.


WENBN Convener Swapan Panda circulated the copies of the Draft
Education Bill 2008, which is very lengthy, with Leaflet by WEBN as
the organisation was behind the event.

WEBN demands:

In accordance to CRC, all children belonging to 0 to 18 years age
group should have fundamental right to education whereas the Bill
limits it to 06 t0 14 years age group only.

Common School System recommended by Kothari Commission and CABE
committee, should be implemented. The draft Bill provides vital space
for privatisation and private schools.

The Bill should create a time Frame within which all children under
the age of eighteen may be included in the scheme of schooling. It is
not mentioned at all.

Syllabus should be based on Rural resources while teachers, students,
guardians and local resource groups and individuals should have a say.

WBEN demands that seven to ten percent of GDP should be allocated in
budget for education.

Private schools and Conventional schools should be treated equal and
it should be ensured with a Constitutional amendment.

WBEN further demands that Privatisation of Education should be stopped
with constitutional amendment.

Multi Level schooling should be stopped immediately.

Children Utility schooling should be introduced.

Syllabus should be standardised to achieve Life and job relevance.

Subhash Chandra Manjhi from Bankura shared his experience while
running a NGO school in rural Bankura and placed details of Local
hegemony interference. Delegates from Murshidabad, 24 Prganas and
elsewhere spoke on the miserable conditions of Rural schools. Everyone
complained that recruitment of Primary teachers is quite standstill.
While the ABTA delegates from Urban areas complained that the
government and government aided schools are being closed down.

Dilip Pal from Basirhat discussed child labour and bonded labour while
some ABTA delegates quoted starvation and infant mortality rates. Some
also discussed the underclass slum children. SC, ST and Minority
angles were also discussed.

Writer Sandeep Bandopaddhyaya discussed a little bit Economy and
funding. While some ABTA delegates, specially Nakuleshwar Bhattacharya
discussed Sarv Shiksha and the inability of the state to use the Fund.

Vetarn teachers were quite nostalgic to remember teachers` demands
before 1977 and the Politics involved in education afterwards. Some
complained of too much political interference in day to day schooling
affairs. Golam Morshed talkede on Rural schooling in Murshidabad.
Samrat kumar Sarkar from south 24 Parganas echoed. Nilotpal Mandal
from Malda discussed Malda scenerio.

Rajesh discussed a little bit Globalisation. Somdev Bhattacharya ,
Satyabrata Chowdhary , general secretary of Bharat Sabha, Rajesh Das ,
Sujit Naryan Goswami, Pradeep Ranjan and some other speakers spoke
against discrimination against Primary teachers and government
schools! Some of them also spoke on mother language. children should
be educated in mother language, they insisted. Some of them also
demanded to create a comprehensive national education map.

I was to speak minutes before the Presidential speech and had been
warned again and again of the time frame.

I picked up the spirit of the Bill and discussed RTI, Rural Employment
and Citizenship amendment Acts and the result as we all know. I spoke
how spirit was violently used in Partition to Nuke deal chronology.
Then I also quoted Strategic Realliance, globalisation, open market,
Industrialisation, Indo Pak conflicts and so on.

I insisted that without linking higher education and job opportunity,
universal education is not going to help us anyway. Retail chain needs
rural market. this Bill may ultimately create some consumers in
unconventional sectors but it won`t help the children belonging to
indigenous communities and indigenous production system in either life
or livelihood. I was stopped by the chair abruptly. While the
presidential speech was academically enriched and consumed vital time.

Parmita Sarkar is young , energetic and was putting details of
practical experiences. She was linking education to production system
and livelihood, purchasing power and affordability.

So. she attracted me most and I talked to her to know her mind on
education bill.a few delegates were annoyed as they felt that it was a
diversion. They also quoted their mass movement experience. but we
continued.

Parmita Sarkar is a general Caste Hindu girl who is working among
mostly the Scheduled caste people in Cooch Bihar.

G-NESep stands for Godhulibazaar- North East society for Empowerment
of the People as told by Parmita.

Parmita is studying M.A. first year in Sociology from IGNU. She has
graduated in Computer Science!

G-NESEP runs self help groups, above Twelve hundred of them in Cooch
Bihar. Most of these self help group belongs to SC BPL women! Fund is
mobilised by Micro finance with the help of SBI.

G-NESEP works against Human Trafficking.

Parmita is also a Project Manager in SRH ( Sexual and reproductive
health.)

Parmita told me what she could not speak due to time crunch!

`Cooch Bihar District People mostly depend on farming. Most of the
people belong to SC and ST. They are really, really very very poor.
Fifty percent of the Rural Population is unemployed.’

Now, what she tells despite inturruptions from other delegates is
similar to the experience of rural social activists all over India.
Slum workers also may found the echoe of their heart in her
assertions.

`Instead of sending school, they would like to compel the children to
get employment as child labour. They have no option but to try hard to
make the children earning members of the family in hardship. Most of
them have no virtual livelihood.’

Parmita suggests,` It is quite unpractical to impose all
responsibility on the helpless people to educate the children. Rather,
the government should take an initiative so that their children ay not
drop out due to economic compulsion!’

Paramita sounds quite pragmatic while she argues,` I don`t think in
present day Indian nation, it is impossible to delete all the non
Government educational institutions! But the government may regularise
them very well.’

Parmita demands,` The Government should ensure that the poor
indigenous lot of children may get quality education from government
schools! So that the gap between private and government schooling
might be covered!’


Thank you Parmita!Hope to meet and talk to you and your kind very
often whatsoever might the academic ideologues say!
According to WBEN, Union Government has once again circulated a BILL
titled right to education bill 2008. This is the fourth such Bill
produced by GOI.The first Bill was prepared in 2003when the NDA Govt.
was in power. It had serious short comings and on reciept of numerous
critiques from academiecs, state governments and politicians, the Bill
was shelved. It may be said that the CABE was not convened even once
by the then Union Minister of Education Prof. MM Joshi.Thsi is
significant because normally CABE plays a leading role in studying and
recommending policy matters in the field of education.
After NDA, UPA took over the reins.Second draft was brought out in
2005.Apart from other short comings, the Bill was never prepared for
consideration in Parliament. it was citrculated in public and then
recommended to all state governments for adoption with or without any
modification appropriate dates.The Idea was that UNION Government
wanted to disown responsibility involved. Expectedly this move was
criticised by all and sundry.The Uinon came with a third version in
2006 making some improvement and again the Bill was sent to the
states!
The present Right to education Bill 2008 has been brought while the
UPA government cunts the last days in Power. The Union Human resource
minister Arjun Singh has publicly declared that the bill will be moved
in the Parliament during current Monsoon session. In the context of
the left`s withdrawal of support and the loose knot alon with highly
controversial Nuke deal and strategic realliance in US lead, it is
quite unclear whether the Bill will be placed in the Parliament!
Teachers and non-government organisations in Bhuvneshwar announced on
Thursday, intensification of their campaign to demand enactment of the
Right to Education in the next session of the Parliament.A five member
delegation led by Communist Party of India (CPI) MP D. Raja Wednesday
met Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh in New Delhi
and submitted a memorandum in this regard, said Mohanty, who was also
one of the delegation members.

Concerned over the inordinate delay in getting the plan off the
ground, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced last fortnight that
the central government would be coming up with the Right to Education
Bill 'very soon'. His announcement came a day after HRD Minister Arjun
Singh met him seeking help to paper the differences, particularly
after the states made it clear that they could not afford the money
involved.
Over the last two years, Arjun Singh had been writing to state chief
ministers hoping that they would come on board. But the response was
uniform - fund the scheme. This, notwithstanding the central
government's willingness to shell out 75 percent of the cost for
implementing the scheme.
According to HRD ministry officials, the states had a problem with a
particular clause in the bill that makes it mandatory for schools to
pay the fees and other expenses of students from Classes 1 to 8. This,
officials said, was because under the draft bill all out-of-school
children between the ages of six and 14 (including disabled children)
would have to be in school and state governments would have to pay for
their education.
Plans to make free and compulsory education a right of every child are
likely to be delayed further with the government referring a bill in
this regard to a Group of Ministers (GoM).Asked why the bill has been
referred to the GoM when it was already delayed, Scienceand Technology
Minister Kapil Sibal said there was discussion about the extent to
which the state governments should contribute towards this. He claimed
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated that the bill was a priority
for his government and should be implemented before the term of the
UPA government ends.To a question as to who would head the GoM, Sibal
said it might be headed by the HRD Minister and would have the Finance
Minister, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission besides himself
as members. Ministry sources said the bill stipulates duties and
responsibilities of appropriate government, local authority and
parents for providing free and compulsory education.The financial
requirement for implementing the measure for seven years from 2008-09
to 2014-15 is estimated to be Rs 2.28 lakh crore.
The central government has earmarked a whopping Rs.850 billion ($21
billion) towards education in the Eleventh Plan, which ends in 2012.
This is five times the allocation for the education sector in the
Tenth Plan. A ministry official said once the bill is cleared, the
funds would be raised from the budget allocated for the Eleventh Plan.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had earlier
stated that the central government could not afford the funds needed
for the Right to Education Bill and there was no need for it. He was
of the view that the government could widen the scope of its existing
flagship programmes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the midday meal
scheme to meet the target for free and compulsory education for all.
The bill aimed at making free and compulsory education a right of
every child was expected to be introduced in Parliament's Monsoon
Session. The Union Cabinet referred the Right to Education Bill to the
group of ministers. The bill, once approved by the GoM, was expected
to be taken up during the monsoon session of parliament. Once approved
by parliament, the bill will pave the way for free and compulsory
education to children between six and 14 years of age.
The implementation of the Right to Education Bill, 2008, will cost the
government an additional Rs 48,000 crore over four years. The draft
bill is currently being circulated in the government and the Cabinet
is likely to take up the matter for consideration soon. Having
effected a drastic reduction from the initial annual bill of Rs 53,000
crore to Rs 12,000 crore, HRD ministry is hopeful that RTE will pass
the scrutiny of the finance ministry and the Planning Commission.
The cost of operationalising the Right to Education (RTE), which works
out to around Rs 12,000 crore a year, will be borne by both the Centre
and states. The government has several fund-sharing options before it.
One option would be to go in for a 90:10 sharing pattern, in which the
Centre contributes 90% of the funds and the states the remaining 10%.
The Bill also prescribes minimum standards that government schools
would have to enforce, using the yardstick of teacher-student ratio,
availability of teaching material and books for students.
What is still unclear is how the programme would be funded and whether
the Centre would subsidize it. According to R. Govinda, of the
National University of Eductional Planning and Administration, state
governments will have to follow the Centre on the education law.
“They have no choice as this is a central legislation,” said Govinda,
who was involved in drafting the Bill.

The other would be to replicate the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan model of
fund sharing, where the Centre’s contribution reduces over a period of
time, as the states begin to shoulder greater share of the fiscal
burden. In the sliding scale model, for the initial years when the
investments required are higher, the Centre will need to provide the
larger share. Decision on the funding pattern need not be taken right
away, and can be deferred till Parliament passes the bill.

The proposed Act seeks to provide right to children in the age group
of six to 14 years to get free education till completion of elementary
education in a neighborhood school. It stipulates duties and
responsibilities of appropriate government, local authority and
parents for providing free and compulsory education.
Private schools across the country will be required to do its part to
ensure all children between 6 and 14 receive free and compulsory
education. The Right to Education Bill, 2008, makes it mandatory for
private unaided schools to set aside 25% of their annual intake at the
entry level (class one) for disadvantaged children in the
neighbourhood. With this, the HRD ministry has given its own spin on
the much-vaunted publicprivate partnership mantra of the UPA
government.

This step is in keeping with the Kothari Commission's recommendation
to introduce a common school system, as well as the Supreme Court
judgement against commercialisation of private schools. The suggestion
to draw private schools into the net was first suggested by the NDA in
its draft Free and Compulsory Education for Children Bill. The idea
was refined by CABE subcommittee on the Free and Compulsory Education
for Children Bill. This was improved in the subsequent August 2005
version of the Right to Education Bill.
As against earlier versions of proposed legislation, the 25% seats
will be only at the entry level, Class I. This, it is believed, will
help the cause of social inclusion. It would help students from
disadvantaged sections to be a sizeable number in a class and not be
scattered through various grades, as would have been the case if
schools had to take in 25% of its total annual intake. Senior
officials are of the view that introducing students from disadvantaged
sections at the entry level will help assimilation as children at that
age are more flexible and less mindful of differences.
This would also ensure that these disadvantaged kids are integrated
with paying students and school management cannot take cover of
`afternoon schools for the disadvantaged' to work around the
provision.

The bill, mooted in 2006, also specifies the responsibility of
teachers and schools besides containing provisions for protection of
child rights and redressals of their grievances are also part of the
bill. The financial requirement for implementing bill for seven years
from 2008-09 to 2014-15 is estimated to be $540 million.

A pension scheme for Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti is also likely to come
up before the cabinet. The Navodaya Vidyalayas have out-performed
other schools recently.
However, a large number of teachers have resigned from these schools
in view of non-applicability of pension scheme to the organisation.
The new pension scheme would cost an additional Rs four crore
annually.


Private unaided schools, that is schools that don't receive funds from
the government, will not lose out financially. The government will
foot the bill for the disadvantaged students on the basis of what it
sets aside per child in government-run schools. The government spends
roughly Rs 1,700 per child as against an average of Rs 1,100 by a
private school.
However, if the school has received concessions, such as cheaper land,
in lieu of a promise to provide for disadvantaged children, then there
will be no payment involved, as is the case in many of Delhi's private
schools.
TIME TO BRIDGE THE DIVIDE
Private Unaided schools will not lose out financially. The government
will foot the bill for the disadvantaged students on the basis of what
it sets aside per child in government-run schools.
If The school has received concessions, such as cheaper land, in lieu
of a promise to provide for disadvantaged children, then there will be
no payment involved, as is the case in many of Delhi's private
schools.
The Other category of schools -- private aided, that is schools that
receive substantial grants, more than 51%, from the government --
would have to provide for children from the neighbourhood, to the
limit of the concession if need be to full capacity.
The other category of schools -- private aided, that is schools that
receive substantial grants, more than 51%, from the government --
would have to provide for children from the neighbourhood, to the
limit of the concession if need be to full capacity. These aided
school system has a strong presence in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In
Kerala, this sector accounts for 60% of elementary schools and 20% in
Tamil Nadu.



Awareness - Awareness
Author:Simone Singh
Insurance Agent
Don't kill Right to Education Bill
http://blogs.siliconindia.com/Simone/R5kiUlwg12411804
In August 2005, a bill was drafted with a sense of hope. This was the
bill that would change the face of education in India. The draft
brimmed with new ideas, the most radical being a clause that made it
compulsory for private schools to have reservations so that rich and
poor rubbed shoulders in the schoolroom and learnt about the way the
other India lived.

The ministers and bureaucrats were unimpressed by this Gandhian
vision, authored by the Government of India's Central Advisory Board
for Education. More than unimpressed, they were unwilling.
Reservations is a prickly political chestnut at the best of times and
this ambitious clause was something they certainly did not want on
their heads.
Three years have passed. The bill has been bounced around like an
unwanted ball from department to department, it has been buried and
resurrected and sent to limbo land. The cabinet has not bother- ed to
read or discuss it. It was not introduced in the budget session. Right
now, it is stuck somewhere in the bewildering maze that is the
bureaucracy.
After the 2002 86th constitutional amendment made education a
fundamental right for children under fourteen, the NDA government
drafted a bill on the right to education. The bill never reached
parliament. When the UPA government was elected, the issue was brought
up again and a new bill was drafted in 2005. While the NDA bill had
been drafted by government officers alone, the UPA bill involved a
much wider range of professionals including university teachers, NGOs
and government servants. The signs were good but educationists have
long learnt not to always trust the signs.
So what is the Right to Education bill all about? Broadly speaking, it
aims at setting minimum standards for both public and private schools
so that the quality of education improves throughout the country and
current inequities are levelled. While most will have no quarrel with
this aim, many may have serious reservations about the method. A
controversial clause makes it compulsory for all private schools to
reserve 25% of their seats for poor children from the neighbourhood.
This includes elite ICSE and IB schools, too. So even a school like a
DPS in Delhi would be subject to this clause as would a Cathedral or a
Dhirubhai Ambani in Mumbai and a St Xavier's and a La Martiniere in
Kolkata. The bill has been fiercely opposed by the private school
lobby which feels that opening its doors to the dhobi's son and the
driver's daughter will dilute its brand value and lower standards.
There is also the problematic issues of the high fees that some
schools charge and the culture of elitism they espouse.
On another front, the bill aims at plugging some of the loopholes in
the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan. For instance, it wants to outlaw non-
formal education and do away with the contract system of recruiting
teachers which has proved disastrous.
"All non-formal schools across the country will as per the bill have
three years to upgrade themselves to formal schools, which provide the
minimum standards prescribed by the bill," says Vinod Raina, one of
the architects of the bill. A physics teacher at Delhi University,
Raina was one of the founders of the Eklavya Program, set up in Madhya
Pradesh in 1972 to bring quality education to disadvantaged children.
As for the contract system, the government currently allows schools to
appoint teachers on a contract basis and pay them a paltry sum of Rs
1,000 to Rs 1,500 a month. Very often these teachers are simply not
qualified to teach. The bill wants that this be abolished and that all
teachers, both in private and government schools, be appointed on a
permanent basis and given a full salary as long as they are qualified.
Recognising the fact that there is a huge shortage of trained teachers
across the country, the bill provides for a five-year period for the
government to create a talent pool by launching wide-scale teacher-
training programs.
One of the reasons given for the delay is that the costs to implement
this bill will be staggering. The current estimates stand at Rs
1,51,000 crore. "It's sad that we do not believe that the right to
education is as important as the right to life," says Nilesh Nimkar,
Unicef advisor in Maharashtra and director of Quest, an organisation
that works for the education of adivasi children. "Without education
it's virtually impossible to lead a life of dignity. It's important
for the government, within reasonable limits, to spend on education."
India spends around 3.7% (under 4%) of its GDP on education. This is
meagre given that most countries that put a premium on education spend
at least 6% of the GDP, if not more, on education.
After the bill was drafted in August 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh sent it to a High Level Group (HLG) which included the finance
minister and the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. The HLG
decided there was no need to pass any central legislation on
education. So the bill was converted into a model bill and sent to all
the states.
State governments were told to pass their own legislation, with a note
from the central government asking them to put education on top of
their list of priorities, second only to law and order. The states
promptly sent the model bill back and asked the Centre to heed its own
advice.
The bill was virtually buried for two years. In between, a mid-census
correction reduced the child population by six million so budgets were
halved from Rs 3,21,000 crore to Rs 1,51,000 crore. Finally, a team of
educationists, two of whom were involved in the drafting of the bill,
wrote a letter to the prime minister raising the issue of central
legislation on education.
The PM met them in August 2007. Subsequently, the PM chaired a meeting
of the HLG in February 2008 and directed that central legislation be
introduced in the budget session. A new draft of the bill was created
by the end of February 2008. However, there are still many hurdles.
The bill required the approval of the Planning Commission as well as
several ministries such as the ministries for woman and child
development, finance and law.
Not surprisingly, the budget session came and went with the bill still
bouncing between departments. The good news is that it has been
cleared by the finance ministry and the Planning Commission. Right now
it is with the law ministry. The monsoon session is upon us. Will the
UPA government deliver on its promise and pass a landmark bill or will
it be banished to a dark corner of the deep freeze?
21 December, 2005 - Published 15:45 GMT

Education bill backs India's poor



The Indian government has introduced a bill in parliament to force
private universities admit fixed numbers of students from
traditionally disadvantaged low castes and tribes. The government
wants to amend the constitution which already obliges state-supported
colleges reserve places for the country's poorest communities. This
report from Mark Dummett:

Listen to the story
The congress-led government wants to extend affirmative action for the
lowest members of India's hierarchical caste system to private
universities. It wants the many independent business, technical and
medical colleges to reserve places for students from the traditionally
discriminated against and impoverished tribal communities and low
castes, also known as Dalits or Untouchables. Government colleges
already admit more than a fifth of their students from these groups.
To change the law, the government needs to amend India's constitution,
where protection of the so-called scheduled castes and tribes is
enshrined. It needs a two-thirds majority to do so, but the main
opposition BJP Party, says it won't support the bill unless colleges
run by religious minorities like the Muslims, are also included. Some
private colleges are also opposed, saying they fear a drop in
standards if the law is changed.
Mark Dummett, BBC News, Delhi.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2005/12/051221_india.shtml

INDIA: Law ministry questions right to education Bill
[NEW DELHI, 6 May 2008] - The law ministry has asked the government to
look into certain “crucial" aspects before introducing the Right to
Education Bill which envisages free and compulsory education to
children between 6 and 14 years.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of
Parliament.
HRD ministry, responsible for the bill, has been told that the concept
of private unaided schools giving 25 per cent reservation to poor
children could result in litigation, which would need to be prepared
for.
The RTE Bill stipulates that at the entry level (class I), schools
should set aside 25 per cent seats for poor children in the vicinity,
the idea being that letting an underprivileged child join a private
school at the entry level would help in social inclusion.
The Bill also says that private aided schools (51 per cent funded by
government) would have to give reservation to underprivileged children
to the extent of the concession they get from the government.
The law ministry believes that since right to education is a
fundamental right under Article 21A, any infringement could
immediately result in court cases.
The Constitution gives the right to a citizen to directly seek
redressal from high courts under Article 226 and the SC under Article
32 (1). Sources feel that since private schools are going to find a
way out of this obligation, an aggrieved citizen would be left with no
choice but go to courts.
Even if the Bill says the government would foot the bill of
disadvantaged children, sources feel, social barriers are such that
private schools would like to keep away from the obligation. According
to current estimates, the government spends Rs 1,700 per child per
year. “Right to Education is one of the most important fundamental
right. We hope it does not remain just a law on paper," a law ministry
official said.
The law ministry has also asked HRD whether 25 per cent reservation
for poor children would be applicable to Kendriya Vidyalayas, Sainik
Schools and Navodaya Vidyalayas. “We know how tough it is to get
admission in Kendriya Vidyalayas. They are meant primarily for
children of government employees,’’ one official said.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=17221
Should the education Bill be scrapped?
December 02, 2005
http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/dec/02debate.htm
The Bill is well-intentioned, but it may stifle the development of
private schools and add to the bureaucracy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Partha J Shah, President, Centre for Civil Society
The only positive aspect of the Right to Education Bill 2005 is the
formation of School Management Committees for state and aided schools.
Three-fourth of the members will be parents, which will give them
genuine power in the committees. The rest of the Bill is a
catastrophe.
Unrecognised private schools will be smothered. Between 1991 and 2001,
India's literacy rate increased by about 13 percentage points -- from
52 to 65 per cent. This is the highest increase in any 10-year period.
This was achieved despite an actual decrease in government educational
expenditure in the early 1990s due to the IMF's (Internation Monetary
Fund's) structural adjustment programme. Unrecognised private schools
for the poor, charging Rs 25 to 200 per month, had come to the rescue.
And the Bill assumes that it is helping the poor by outlawing this
sector.
The Bill mandates automatic promotion for students and focuses only on
the inputs into the education system -- the outlays. No standards are
set for learning outcomes. A case of guaranteeing graduation but not
education.
The Bill seeks to expand access by two means: by greatly increasing
the number of state schools and by the minimum 25 per cent reservation
of seats in all private schools. Now, if the government wants to open
more schools, certainly no new law is necessary. So, after all the
rhetoric, the Bill expects the private sector to discharge the
constitutional obligation of the state! Though the success of the Bill
depends heavily on capacity addition in the private sector, it does
nothing to remove the license-quota raj in opening new schools.
The Bill creates a National Commission for Elementary Education, State
Regulatory Authorities, and several "competent authorities", "local
authorities", and "empowered authorities" on the top of the existing
educracy. The system will be bureaucrushed.
Unlike for private schools, the process of attaining recognition for
state schools is not prescribed. It assumes that state schools would
automatically meet the standards. Is the government ignorant of the
abysmal infrastructure in state schools?
All state teachers will be assigned to a school and will never be
transferred again. A teacher will spend her entire working life in one
school. If this is what the ministry of human resource development
offers as a good HR policy, it's time to close it down.
Only parents and teachers suffer penalty for dereliction of their
duties. There is no penalty on the government for failing to meet its
obligations.
The outcome of the Bill will be to restrict the school choice of
parents and of teachers and to expand the layers and powers of the
education bureaucracy. This is not the Bill that would serve the cause
of education.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
R Govinda, Professor, National Institute of Educational Planning and
Administration
The enactment of a law making Right to Education a Fundamental Right
has become necessary since the goal of Universal Elementary Education
has remained elusive despite being a Directive Principle for more than
five decades. The majority of those excluded from the ambit of
schooling are children of the poor; and the nature and quality of
school provision has accentuated inequities in the society.
By getting the participation of private schools in the process of
implementing an equitable system of elementary education, the Bill
attempts to reduce the widening social divide between the education of
the rich and the poor by ensuring that they sit together and learn in
the same classroom.
The purpose is not to seek a cross-subsidy from the rich for the
education of their poorer kin. Requiring that all elementary schools
satisfy certain basic norms in terms of infrastructure, learning
facilities and the academic calendar will take care of the problems
posed by the mushrooming of sub-standard schools, both in the
government and private sectors.
Removing the "transfer of teachers" power takes care of a system,
which has resulted in serious malpractice, nepotism, political
interference and corruption in the administration of school education.
The Bill requires that every teacher be appointed to a specific school
where there is a vacancy, which is normal practice the world over. A
teacher can move to another school or to a higher position through
open advertisements and competition among those eligible.
This move, coupled with the proposal to empower the School Management
Committees to manage the local school, should free schools from
bureaucratic control and develop a greater sense of local level
accountability and ownership.
Parents would have a significant stake and voice in school functioning
as they constitute 75 per cent of members of the Management Committee.
The Bill also proposes the establishment of a National Commission for
Elementary Education, as an independent professional body with
overarching authority to monitor the implementation of the provisions
of the Act.
The NCEE, to be established through processes similar to the NHRC, is
envisaged to act as an ombudsman, with the scope to independently
assess the situation and instruct the government or any other
authority for effective implementation of the provisions.
NCEE's role is critical for the implementation of the Right to
Education in a proactive manner, thus protecting the interests of the
child.
INDIA: A crumbling system of higher education
Writer: Geoff Maslen
Date: 10 August 2008
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20080807152309578


India's decision in the early 1990s to open its markets and fully
participate in the global economy is widely credited for the nation's
spectacular rate of economic growth over the past decade or so, says
Professor Fazal Rizvi. But Rizvi says many within and outside India
believe this rate of growth is not sustainable unless India overhauls
its crumbling system of higher education.
In an address to a Unesco Centre for Comparative Education Research
forum at the University of Nottingham last month, Rizvi said the rise
of India as an emerging economic power was widely attributed to
India's decision to open its economy in early 1990s, deregulate and
privatise the key economic sectors, engage with global processes,
actors and agencies, and better utilise its enormous pool of knowledge
workers.
Rizvi is a professor in the department of educational policy at the
University of Illinois and has written widely on theories of
globalisation, education and cultural policy. He is currently
researching higher education in India.
He said there had been widespread recognition of the role of higher
education in sustaining high levels of economic growth and broader
distribution of national wealth. Yet there were many indicators of a
decline in the higher education system and these included:
* An inability of the system to meet the growing demand.
* Considerable evidence of poor teaching, especially in state
universities.
* Ineffective quality control.
* Poor graduate outcomes with unemployment for most graduates from
colleges.
* Declining research performance and productivity.
* Low status of Indian universities in international ranking.
* Widespread corruption in appointments of faculty and selection of
students.
* Poor governance with cumbersome bureaucratic impediments to reform.
Many of these problems were caused by the structure of higher
education in India and its colonial beginning in the mid-19th century,
with a strong emphasis on disciplinary learning and examinations,
Rizvi said.
Then there was the wide variety of types of institutions, with
universities and affiliated colleges responsible for providing
curriculum and overseeing academic standards, unitary universities
without affiliated colleges and universities with constitutive and
affiliated colleges.
A key factor, of course, is the sheer size of the Indian system, now
the third largest in the world, after China and the US. India has
nearly 18,000 institutions (348 universities and 17,625 colleges),
that include a small elite sector of IITs, IIMs and IISs, 20 central
universities, and the rest state universities, a large number of
research centres and laboratories, and more than 10 million students
(but less than 8 % of the age cohort).
As well, there are 26 private universities, 5,750 aided private
colleges, 7,650 unaided private colleges and around 150 foreign
institutions. Most private and foreign universities and colleges focus
on business studies, engineering and IT.
The Indian government established a National Knowledge Commission in
2006 and it has released a set of recommendations for reforming higher
education. These include:
* Creating many more universities - another 1,500 to attain a gross
enrolment ratio of 15% by 2015.
* Changing the regulation of higher education by establishing an
Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education.
* Increased public spending and diversifying sources of financing
universities.
* Establishing 50 'national universities'.
As part of the reforms, existing universities would be reshaped,
undergraduate colleges reshaped, improvements required to enhance
quality, and would adopt a policy of inclusion that would ensure
access for all deserving students along with a process of affirmative
action.
Rizvi said among the issues that remained to be resolved were policy
coordination between the different authorities responsible for higher
education, the declining authority of the UGC, the complexities of
Indian federalism, political and legal inertia, and the
"politicisation of policy communication and implementation".
He said the government had promised some increase in public funding
which would be sufficient for the knowledge commission's targets but
that alternative funding sources were reluctant to invest in higher
education and research. There were also problems with the allocation
and distribution of funds.
Privatisation was occurring at a rapid rate without a coherent policy
framework, Rizvi said. A Private Education Bill was still languishing
in Parliament, yet the quality of private institutions was "uneven at
best".
For the system as a whole there was no coherent quality assurance
mechanism and India faced a decline in the role of professional
associations in quality assurance, while the peer review systems by
faculty and students was almost non-existent.
On the matter of access and equity, Rizvi told the forum that strong
policy dictates for affirmative action were often ignored, a narrow
conception of access existed and the educational outcomes for some
minorities were deteriorating.
geoff....@uw-news.com

UPA: EDUCATION FOR ALL
The Lost Chapter
No funds, says Centre. The Right to Education Bill goes cold.


Anuradha Raman


http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080908&fname=Education+(F)&sid=1


One would have thought there would be no opposition to a Bill which
will operationalise the fundamental right of a child to education. Far
from it, the Right to Education (RTE) Bill has been getting tossed
around for the last three years. Last fortnight, the Union cabinet met
in the absence of an ailing human resources development minister,
Arjun Singh, and referred it once again to a Group of Ministers (GoM)
which will once again go through the bill with a fine-tooth comb. This
exercise essentially means another delay.
Very clearly, the Manmohan Singh government, so focused on the N-deal
and caught up with domestic concerns like the Jammu and Kashmir
imbroglio, is showing no urgency vis-a-vis the RTE bill. As one
minister who attended last fortnight's cabinet meeting put it, "We
were very busy with the J&K situation and so we just didn't get the
time to discuss the education bill." It's certainly not a priority
with this government.
Further, Outlook has learnt from sources that the prime minister has
his reservations about the bill. A group of educationists who met
Manmohan Singh last year were told that funding the RTE would be a
huge problem. One of them told Outlook that "the PM clearly pointed
out the inability of the Centre to fund the RTE and (said) that some
of the states were rich enough to implement it".
Inked out: HRD minister Arjun Singh
This is a view echoed by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek
Singh Ahluwalia too (see interview). This, despite the commission
approving the bill last year. (It is learnt the majority view-in
support of the bill-had prevailed then despite Montek's objections.)
But his latest objection is that the bill's prime mover, the Union HRD
ministry, has not weighed the financial implications of the state
guaranteeing education to children in the age group 6-14.
Of course, there are financial costs involved. Estimates drawn up by
the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) has it that an
additional Rs 77,223 crore will be required in the 12th plan for the
RTE to take off (about Rs 7,000 crore per annum or 0.15 percent of the
GDP). Already, the 11th Plan allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
is projected at Rs 70,000-80,000 crore. The RTE is targeted at the 20
crore kids in the 6-14 age group.
But looking beyond all this are a group of concerned academics and
lawyers who say precious time is being wasted debating the financial
implications. Says educationist Anita Rampal: "A central legislation
is essential to lay down uniform norms for quality and standards of
elementary education. This should be irrespective of a state's
economic capacity and also to ensure conformity with constitutional
values."
Noted educationist Anil Sadgopal says systematic attempts have been
made to dilute the provisions of the bill ever since it was put to
debate. He goes so far as to suggest that the bill is reflective of
the neo-liberal policies of the state, as evident in the committee set
up under Kapil Sibal when the minister requested that private schools
be kept out of the bill's ambit. "What is the meaning of equitable
education then?" asks Sadgopal.
According to him, the high-level group constituted by the PM concluded
at its meeting that the Centre lacked funds and that the RTE should
primarily be a state responsibility. Says Sadgopal: "It's not lack of
resources but a government framework leaning towards neo-liberal
policies like private-public partnership in model schools, stratifying
the education system which keeps large chunks of children out etc that
is responsible for the mess our education system is in."
It was in 1993 that the SC gave the historic Unnikrishnan judgement
which gave all children up to 14 years the fundamental right to
education.The court said the fundamental right to life under Article
21 of the Constitution should be read along with the directive in
Article 45 to provide free and compulsory education to children of
0-14 years.
Successive governments tried their best to obfuscate issues till the
86th Constitutional Amendment Act in 2002. This limited the state's
responsibility to looking after children in the 6-14 age group. While
the bill piloted by the nda government had glaring loopholes, it was
assumed that when the upa took charge, education would be given its
due. This would have meant every child below 14 was assured education
in state-run schools. Not just that, private schools would ensure that
25 per cent of the seats were reserved for children from the weaker
sections.
But not much has been done. While several private schools are not for
reservation at all, even government schools are guilty. Delhi-based
advocate and social activist Ashok Aggarwal gets at least half a dozen
cases a day from children denied admission to government schools. He
is hopeful the RTE will empower parents to fight the legal battles.
So what now? Science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, who presided
over the previous GoM, will be taking another "hard look" at the bill.
According to him, "We have to see what are the parameters that will be
looked into by the courts, if it is challenged in the future." But
isn't that exactly what the first GoM had deliberated upon?
Primary Education in India: Prospects of meeting the MDG Target
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:-i1NtDz08ZwJ:ideas.repec.org/p/bri/cmpowp/07-190.html+Education+Bill+2008+of+India&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=37&gl=in
Author Info
Sonia Bhalotra
Bernarda Zamora (s.bha...@bristol.ac.uk)
Additional information is available for the following registered
author(s):
Bernarda Zamora
Sonia Radhika Bhalotra
Abstract
This paper uses two large repeated cross-sections, one for the early
1990’s, and one for the late 1990’s, to describe growth in school
enrolment and completion rates for boys and girls in India, and to
explore the extent to which enrolment and completion rates have grown
over time. It decomposes this growth into components due to change in
the characteristics that determine schooling, and another associated
with changes in the responsiveness of schooling to given
characteristics. Our results caution against the common practice of
using current data to make future projections on the assumption that
the model parameters are stable. The analysis nevertheless performs
illustrative simulations relevant to the question of whether India
will be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of realising
universal primary education by the year 2015. The simulations suggest
that India will achieve universal attendance, but that primary school
completion rates will not exhibit much progress.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to view it first. Information about this may be
contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems
read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
File URL: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/CMPO/workingpapers/wp190.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK
in its series The Centre for Market and Public Organisation with
number 07/190.
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain
text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length: 16 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:07/190
Contact details of provider:
Postal: Mary Paley Building, 12 Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TN
Phone: 0117 954 6943
Fax: 0117 954 6997
Email: cmpo-...@bristol.ac.uk
Web page: http://www.bris.ac.uk/cmpo/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its
listing, contact: Karen....@bristol.ac.uk (Karen Ireland).
Related research
Keywords: Millennium Development Goals primary schooling attendance
completion rates gender India decomposition
Find related papers by JEL classification:
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of
Education
I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government
Policy
O12 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - -
Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic
Development
J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - -
Public Policy

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
NEP-ALL-2008-02-16 (All new papers)
NEP-CWA-2008-02-16 (Central & Western Asia)
NEP-DEV-2008-02-16 (Development)
NEP-EDU-2008-02-16 (Education)
NEP-HRM-2008-02-16 (Human Capital & Human Resource Management)
NEP-LAB-2008-02-16 (Labour Economics)
References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to Jose.B...@uv.es,
or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to
your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make
appropriate adjustments.:
Alderman,Harold & Hoddinott, John & Kinsey, Bill, 2003. "Long-term
consequences of early childhood malnutrition," FCND briefs 168,
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Alderman,Harold & Hoddinott, John & Kinsey, Bill, 2003. "Long-term
consequences of early childhood malnutrition," FCND discussion papers
168, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
[Downloadable!]
Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2004. "Long Term
Consequences Of Early Childhood Malnutrition," HiCN Working Papers 09,
Households in Conflict Network. [Downloadable!]
Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term
consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers,
Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2002. "The Political Economy Of
Government Responsiveness: Theory And Evidence From India," The
Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(4), pages
1415-1451, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2000. "The Political Economy of
Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India," STICERD -
Development Economics Papers 28, Suntory and Toyota International
Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
Besley, Timothy J. & Burgess, Robin, 2001. "The Political Economy of
Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India," CEPR
Discussion Papers 2721, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!]
(restricted)
Banerjee, Abhijit V., 2004. "Educational policy and the economics of
the family," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1),
pages 3-32, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1986. "Human Capital and the Rise and
Fall of Families," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago
Press, vol. 4(3), pages S1-39, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Gary S. Becker & Nigel Tomes, . "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall
of Families," University of Chicago - Population Research Center
84-10, Chicago - Population Research Center.
Arnaud Chevalier, 2004. "Parental Education and Childs Education: A
Natural Experiment," CEE Discussion Papers 0040, Centre for the
Economics of Education, LSE. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Arnaud Chevalier, 2004. "Parental Education And Child's Education: A
Natural Experiment," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2004 42,
Royal Economic Society. [Downloadable!]
Chevalier, Arnaud, 2004. "Parental Education and Child’s Education: A
Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 1153, Institute for the
Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Yun, Myeong-Su, 2004. "Decomposing differences in the first moment,"
Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 275-280, February.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Yun, Myeong-Su, 2003. "Decomposing Differences in the First Moment,"
IZA Discussion Papers 877, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
[Downloadable!]
Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2001. "The Relationship Between Education and
Adult Mortality in the U. S," Working Papers 272, Princeton
University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,
Center for Health and Wellbeing.. [Downloadable!]
Jacoby, Hanan G & Skoufias, Emmanuel, 1997. "Risk, Financial Markets,
and Human Capital in a Developing Country," Review of Economic
Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 64(3), pages 311-35, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1995. "Why Are There Returns to Schooling?,"
American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2),
pages 153-58, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references
Statistics
Access and download statistics
Did you know? Cannot find something on IDEAS? Encourage the publisher
to index it! Instructions.

This page was last updated on 2008-7-7.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of
Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of
Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for
Economic Dynamics.


Right to Education Bill 2005: I
Right to Education Bill 2005: II


Volume 23 - Issue 15 :: Jul. 29-Aug. 11, 2006
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
Education for few
JAYATI GHOSH
http://www.educationforallinindia.com/RighttoEducationBill2005.html
The new education bill proposed by the UPA will exclude disadvantaged
groups from quality schooling and pass the burden to cash-strapped
State governments.
In all the often heated debates about the strategy of development for
India, there is one issue on which there seems to be consensus among
all - the need to provide universal and good quality education at
school-level to all our children. There is good reason for this
consensus, which emerges from some very different initial positions
with respect to other matters of society and economics. At one level,
education is a fundamental human right, without which capabilities for
a decent life and effective participation in society are less likely
to be developed. Therefore, all our citizens deserve equitable access
to a public school education system of reasonable quality.
There is the equally important point about the nature of the society
we wish to have. The primary purpose of education is to build a truly
humane society - democratic and egalitarian, tolerant of diversity and
yet with some shared human values - and to allow all citizens to
unleash their full potential and live with dignity.
This implies that school education up to a certain level (ideally 10
or 12 years) must be accessible to all, and that differences in the
quality of provision should not be such that they create social
inequalities or monopolisation by any group.
But even those who are less likely to adopt a rights-based approach to
development or accept the importance of universal education for a good
society, still recognise the critical significance of investing in
education. This is because they know that for sustained growth and all-
round economic progress, an educated labour force is absolutely
essential. And as economic tasks become more complex, interdependent
and require different kinds of literacy and numeracy, the importance
of higher levels of education also grows. All the current talk of
creating a "knowledge society" is based on the realisation that
education must be a major focus of public intervention.
Therefore, until quite recently it was the case that even those who
otherwise debunked public expenditure in general, accepted the need
for public spending on and provision of basic education. Additionally,
in recent times, some of the recognition of the need for more
investment in education is also because of the buzz about the
"demographic dividend".
This is the fact that our relatively young population can become a
huge asset when most of the rest of the world's population is aging,
and this difference in demographic structure can create a large
positive potential for faster growth. (Of course, this in turn
presupposes that productive work can be found for all of those of
working age.)
Yet it is precisely in the sphere of ensuring equitable access to
quality education for our people that the development project in India
has been conspicuously lacking thus far. Even today, the official
gross enrolment ratios for children aged between six and 14 is around
80 per cent, and effective enrolment is much less. Currently, only 56
per cent of children aged between five and nine are attending school,
according to Census data.
More tellingly, dropout rates are very high; less than half of the
children who join Class I actually complete Class VIII, and much less
than 10 per cent pass the higher secondary examination. The situation
is even worse because of social and economic divisions, which reduce
access. For example, more than 80 per cent of Scheduled Caste girls
and 90 per cent of Scheduled Tribe girls who join Class I do not
complete Class X.
This is largely because of huge under provision and poor quality
provision in the government school system, such that those who cannot
afford to attend private schools are either unable or unwilling to
attend school, and are often deprived of access altogether.
Some of this is because of the very large infrastructure gaps in the
public education system in the country. There are still large numbers
of villages and urban settlements without government schools in the
approachable vicinity.
There is also substantial overcrowding in existing schools. According
to the National Sample Survey, more than 30 per cent of primary
schools do not have any proper buildings, and another 20 per cent
function out of only one room, which clearly affects both the quality
and effectiveness of teaching in such schools. The average number of
instructional classrooms across all schools is only two.
The inadequacy of other basic infrastructure (separate toilets for
girls and boys, clean drinking water supply, electrical fittings and
fans and so on) not to mention advanced teaching aids, including
computers, is also well-established not only for many primary schools
but also for a substantial proportion of secondary schools and
institutions of higher learning.
Then of course there is the shortage of teachers, which forces many
students at different levels to be taught by one teacher. According to
a study by the National Institute of Educational Planning and
Administration, even now, up to 13 per cent of all elementary schools
are single-teacher schools. Nearly 10 per cent of schools do not have
even one blackboard. More than half do not have a book bank, not to
mention a library. Only 7 per cent of schools have computers.
Part of the reason for this abysmal state of affairs is that there was
no compulsion upon either Central or State governments to provide
universal education. The faith expressed in Article 45 of the
Constitution, making a commitment of the state to provide free and
compulsory education to children up to 14 years of age, did not
translate into any justiciable right. Most critically, successive
versions of draft legislation have failed to make it a justiciable
right or to ensure the financial resources for the government to
provide universal schooling.
It is against this background that the Right to Education Bill, 2005,
was formulated. This Bill has had a tortuous history. The 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act, passed in 2002, inserted Article 21A in
Part III (Fundamental Rights) which declared that "the state shall
provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age 6-14
years in such manner as the state may by law determine." This set the
stage for the Right to Education Bill. The National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government provided flawed draft Bills which
effectively legitimised different "streams" of education, with low
quality provision for underprivileged sections, and heavy reliance on
privatisation.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in turn provided a
more acceptable Bill, which still had a number of problems and also
diluted the right to education in several ways. However, it also had
certain strengths, such as some move towards a common schooling system
by which all schools, including private schools, would have to take 25
per cent of students from among underprivileged children in the
vicinity. This reflected the recommendations of the Education
Commission in the 1960s that bringing different social classes and
groups together would promote an egalitarian and integrated society.
However, this draft Bill gathered dust, apparently in the Prime
Minister's Office, for more than 10 months, and was not introduced in
successive sessions of Parliament. It has now come to light that the
Central government has decided to shelve this altogether, and instead
has formulated a model Bill which has been sent to all State
governments for them to enact.
Further, according to the letter sent by the Secretary for School
Education to the State governments, only States which adopt the model
bill in toto will continue to receive 75 per cent funding for the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan - all others will have the Central allocation
cut to 50 per cent!
Quite apart from the undemocratic nature of this offer, this reneges
on the commitment made in the Constitutional Amendment, since the
Central government is now taking no financial responsibility for
ensuring the right to education. It is ridiculous to expect cash-
strapped State governments to be able to provide the resources for
this. Only the Central government can and must provide the relatively
large financial outlays that are required to meet this absolutely
essential public commitment.
The model Bill that has been proposed is even more appalling - it
removes any mention of common schooling, places no requirements upon
private schools, and does not actually recognise the right to
education. It says that any parents/guardians who choose to admit
their children to a non-free quota in a school (for whatever reason,
for however short a time) shall not have any claim on the State for
free education for their children.
It allows for "alternative" non-formal education for children for
reasons of disability, or disadvantage, or nature of occupation of
parents, thereby creating the possibilities for all sorts of exclusion
by class and social group. In sum, it is a Bill of exclusion rather
than inclusion, a complete denial of rights.
So here we have an extraordinary situation - a Central government that
has publicly committed to ensuring the right to education, working
surreptitiously and bypassing Parliament in order to push State-level
legislation which completely undermines the notion of that right.
The irony is that this is in all probability driven by the same people
who have been opposing caste-based quotas in higher education, on the
grounds that it is first necessary to ensure access to quality school
education to disadvantaged groups. Unfortunately, while increasing and
univeralising access to quality education are critical for the health
of our society and its future, we still have to contend with elites
and an establishment who are determined to prevent it.

Friday, August 22, 2008
Report of the seminar titled 'Right to Education-Actions Now'
conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Shiksha India
The seminar titled 'Right to Education-Actions Now' was organised by
the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Shiksha India, Aspen
Institute and Institute of Quality, on 19th December, 2007 in Maurya
Sheraton, New Delhi, India. The main sponsors of the seminar were:
Ambuja Cement, Bajaj Group of Companies, Bharti, GMMCO, Haldia,
Thermax, Sona, SRF, Organosys and Patton.
The centre of attraction of this seminar was Nobel Laureate Amartya
Sen, who called for accountability in delivery of elementary education
and public healthcare services, effective use of resources and co-
operation with unions in these sectors. Prof. Sen underlined the
importance of expansion of inclusive growth. He suggested deployment
of more economic resources in education and better organisation of
public services. Prof. Sen said that resources generated from economic
growth should be used for public services and public goods in general,
rather than being absorbed only in private consumption. He also
highlighted the issue of diversity. He said that India should ensure
efficiency and accountability in delivery of public services through
organisational reforms. Despite economic reforms, the slowness of
progress on school education has been taking much longer to remedy. He
observed that there has been some reduction in the proportion of
poverty-stricken people. But the process could have been much faster
if growth achievements are combined with ways and means of more
widespread sharing of economic opportunities. Prof. Sen said that
India has been catching up with China in life expectancy and infant
mortality, but there is still a long way to go. Prof. Sen expressed
concern at the shocking incidence of absenteeism and neglect on the
part of many teachers, who come from elite background and who care
less for students from disadvantaged sections of the society. He
pointed out the poor state of school inspection system in India. To
tackle these problems, he suggested positive collaboration with other
social groups and particularly the unions of primary school teachers
and health care workers. He said that an educated population can make
even better use of democracy. He talked on the importance of
democracy. He asked for the need for female literacy as it can have
positive impact on their economic and social status. He said that
education can have powerful effects on quality of life of even the
poorest of the poor. Prof. Amartya Sen mentioned that the nature of
education is extremely relative. He also praised the $100 computers-
for-kids initiative by MIT Media Lab. He said that peer learning is
essential. He said that the quality of food provided in the mid-day
meal scheme (MDM) is poor in certain states of India. He said that
there is need for looking at education for producing skilled labour
force, which can be tapped by the IT, ITeS and other services sector.
He said that poor people should be provided coupons, which can be
helpful in accessing education. He said that education is something
more than literacy. He mentioned that in Bangladesh, there is a law
which says that the wife of every husband should read and write.
Rakesh said that public-private partnership for constructing school
buildings is need of the day. He said that there is need for
concentrating on the 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan'. Vijay Bhakara talked on
the accountability of the education sector. He said that there is need
for measuring the quality of education. He mentioned about one census
assessment report on quality of education. He said that the competency
level of the children needs to be assessed, which has happened in
Karnataka, India. He also mentioned about the School Adoption Scheme,
which is running in Karnataka. Kalyan Banerji said that the quality of
textbook is very poor in India. There is thus the need for good
quality content, so that it enhances the quality of the children-the
future of India. S Bhattacharya said that there is need for better
implementation of already existing educational schemes. Governmental
schemes cannot be substituted by other initiatives. Teachers'
commitment and empowerment is extremely essential. India produces less
number of engineers. There is a need to check why more and more
students are taking commerce and management related subjects, instead
of science/ technology. There is also the need to see why the system
of Aanganwadi has collapsed in most states of India. He also mentioned
that the pre-nursery school education system has collapsed. Drop-out
is happening due to socio-economic reasons, he added. Students coming
from rural background have hidden talents. Teachers must have the
potential to tap the talent present in school children. There is also
need to assess why there exists much focus only on English. He said
that there is need to look at how to ensure accountability in
educational schemes. S Bhattacharya said that the unhealthy
competition in education need to be reduced. One of the biggest
problem in Rajasthan is the transfer policy for teachers since every
teacher want to be transfered to his/her native place.
However, Rajasthan has performed well in implementing the mid-day meal
scheme successfully. During the 11th Five Year Plan, more allocation
of financial resources with have been made on education, he added. He
asked for passing of the Right to Education Bill by the Parliament of
India. Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman, Shiksha India, talked on the
importance of e-Learning tools to impart education at primary and
secondary levels. He asked for the need of inputs from all sections of
the population in order to make concrete progress in the field of
education. He said that CII has been making positive efforts to
promote education.
Gautam Thapar, Vice-Chairman, The Aspen Institute India, said, "In the
context of globalisation, education assumes greater meaning. Greatness
of a nation should not be measured by its ranking in global economic
order, but by its ability to provide quality education. If we don't
address the issue of education, our demographic dividend may turn into
demographic disaster." He added that the Aspen Institute India is
ready to contribute to the promotion of education. The day-long
session was attended by 200 participants from Indian industry, NGOs,
principals of various schools across the county, teachers and
students. The session included an interactive session with Prof. Sen
during which he dwelt on an array of issues. The participants
discussed future course of action to improve elementary education in
India. Madhav talked on the need for educational initiative in rural
India. He said that there is need for employing the rural unemployed
in educational sector. In this respect, the educational initiative of
the the NGO Pratham, was mentioned by him. But there is need for
scalability of the Pratham initiative, he said. Anil Bordia, talked
about the need for working with the Anganwadi workers. He mentioned
about the Lok Jumbish. There is need for contribution by the citizens,
he said. Education should not be made absolutely free, he added.
During the conference it was mentioned that the National Sample Survey
is one of the the best surveys conducted by the Government of India,
which provides a different picture than the statistics provided by the
Department of Education. Motivation of teacher is extremely important
for having a good quality education system. There is the need for
developing a transparent and accountable institutions in the area of
education. The focus of the discussion was on the mid day meal scheme
and the purposes it serves.
During the post lunch session, group discussions (comprising more than
15 groups) were held, which revolved around several topics.
Suggestions were provided by various groups on various topics, which
include: ensuring better school adoption system, bridging gaps in
education in rural India, developing teacher skills, team learning,
etc.

* The article have been jointly written by Narinder Bhatia, Anaam
Sharma and Shambhu Ghatak
August 12, 2008
Special educational tribunals mooted to curb malpractices by
educational institutions
According to a report in The Hindu Business Line, Monday, August 11,
2008, p3 print edition ( I couldn't find this report online),
The Law Ministry is taking a close look at a suggestion to set up
special tribunals with jurisdication on various educational
malpractices, including overcharging of fees and non-payment of
students' dues by institutions. Ministry officials said they are in
touch with the Human Resources Ministry, as it is concerned with
policies related to educational institutions. The government's stand
on the issue would largely depend "on the HRD ministry's views", said
an official. The Law Minister, Mr. H.R. Bhardwaj, is believed to be
keen on using the tribunals for handling litigation related to
specific kind of cases in already overburdened courts. The proposed
tribunals on educational malpractices would save students and their
parents the trouble of approaching over-burdened courts for justice.
Presumably "overcharging of fees" refers to the so called donations
that are forcibly demanded and collected?
While the idea of regulating educational institutions is certainly
welcome and long overdue, we need to look into the pros and cons of
establishing a new tribunal just to look into malpractices by
educational institutions. If the existing regulatory bodies for
schools, colleges and other types of educational institutions are
given more teeth and enforcing powers, they may well be able to handle
this themselves, rather than creating a new tribunal.
If the Law Ministry is considering such a proposal, I wish they think
about putting it out in the public domain and calling for comments and
suggestions from the public. An important regulatory issue like this
needs to be debated.
http://prayatna.typepad.com/education/





Education in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Education in India Educational oversight
HRD Minister Ministry of HRD
Arjun Singh
National education budget
• Discretionary
• Mandatory Rs.24,115 crore (2006-07)
?
?
Primary language(s) of education English, Other regional languages
Literacy (2001)
• Men
• Women 64.8 %
75.3 %
53.7 %
Enrollment1 (2001-02)
• Primary (I-V)
• Mid/Upper Prim. (VI-VIII)
• Higher Secondary (IX-X) 189.2 million
113.9 million
44.8 million
30.5 million
1. doesn't include kindergarten enrollment
India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years, dating
back to ancient seats of learning like Nalanda. In modern times,
Indian educational institutions such as the (IITs, IISc, IIMs,
NITs,AIIMS, ISI, BITS and ISB) are well known worldwide. India, being
a developing nation, struggles with challenges in its primary
education and strives to reach 100% literacy. Universal Compulsory
Primary Education, with its challenges of keeping poor children in
school and maintaining quality of education in rural areas, has been
difficult to achieve (Kerala is an Indian state to reach this goal so
far). All levels of education in India, from primary to higher
education, are overseen by the Ministry of Human Resource Development
(Department of Higher Education (India) and Department of School
Education and Literacy), and heavily subsidized by the Indian
government, though there is a move to make higher education partially
self-financing. The Indian Government is considering to allow 100%
foreign direct investment in Higher Education.[1]

Contents
[hide]
1 Structure
1.1 Pre-primary Education
1.2 Elementary Education
1.3 Non-graduation market
1.4 Higher Education
1.4.1 Accreditation
1.5 Graduation market
2 History
3 Recent developments
4 Outdoor Education in India
5 Expenditure on Education in India
6 Initiatives
6.1 Non-Formal Education
6.2 Bal Bhavans
6.3 Distance education
7 Education for special sections of society
7.1 Women
7.2 SC/STs and OBCs
7.3 Post Graduate Classes at Correctional Homes
8 Contemporary education issues
9 See also
10 Further reading
11 Notes
12 External links



[edit] Structure


Indian Education System comprises stages called
Nursery,Primary,Secondary,Higher Secondary,Graduation & Post
Graduation. Some students go in different stream after Secondary for 3
Years Technical education called Polytechnics
There are broadly four stages of school education in India, namely
primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary (or high
school). Overall, schooling lasts 12 years, following the "10+2
pattern". However, there are considerable differences between the
various states in terms of the organizational patterns within these
first 10 years of schooling. The government is committed to ensuring
universal elementary education (primary and upper primary) education
for all children aged 6-14 years of age. Primary school includes
children of ages six to eleven, organized into classes one through
five. Upper Primary and Secondary school pupils aged eleven through
fifteen are organized into classes six through ten, and higher
secondary school students ages sixteen through seventeen are enrolled
in classes eleven through twelve. In some places there is a concept
called Middle/Upper Primary schools for classes between six to eight.
In such cases classes nine to twelve are classified under high school
category. Higher Education in India provides an opportunity to
specialize in a field and includes technical schools (such as the
Indian Institutes of Technologyand Indian Institutes of Informaton
Technology,Design & Manufacturing), colleges, and universities.

In India, the main types of schools are those controlled by:

The state government boards, in which the vast majority of Indian
school-children are enrolled,
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board,
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)
board,
National Open School and
"International schools." These schools mimic the schools in the West
in pattern and syllabi and are considerably more expensive than
regular schools. The exams conducted have the syllabus of any one of
the above-mentioned Councils or Boards.
Overall, according to the latest Government Survey undertaken by NUEPA
(DISE, 2005-6), there are 1,124,033 schools.


[edit] Pre-primary Education
Pre-primary education in India is not a fundamental right, with a very
low percentage of children receiving preschool educational facilities.
The largest source of provision is the so called Integrated Child
Development Services (or ICDS) and anganwadis. However, the preschool
component in the same remains weak.

In the absence of significant government provisions, the private
sector (reaching to the relatively richer section of society) has
opened schools. Provisions in these kindergartens are divided into two
stages - lower kindergarten (LKG) and upper kindergarten (UKG).
Typically, an LKG class would comprise children 3 to 4 years of age,
and the UKG class would comprise children 4 to 5 years of age. After
finishing upper kindergarten, a child enters Class 1 (or, Standard 1)
of primary school. Often kindergarten is an integral part of regular
schools,though there is a marked trend towards exclusive prep schools.
A special Toddler/Nursery group at the age of 2-2½ is also part of the
pre-primary education. It is run as part of the kindergarten. However,
creches and other early care facilities for the underprivileged
sections of society are extremely limited in number. There are some
organized players with standardized curricula coming of age which
cover a very small share of the urban population. Overall, the %
enrollment of pre-primary classes to total enrollment (primary) is
11.22% (DISE, 2005-06). The popular preschool in India is EuroKids
which is spread across the length and breadth of the country. The
curriculum is more child centric and age appropriate.there should not
be any difference in the education system (www.eurokidsindia.com)


[edit] Elementary Education


Primary school in the remote Kanji village of the Kargil district.
During the eighth five-year plan, the target of "universalizing"
elementary education was divided into three broad parameters:
Universal Access, Universal Retention and Universal Achievement i.e.,
making education accessible to children, making sure that they
continue education and finally, achieving goals. As a result of
education programs, by the end of 2000, 94% of India's rural
population had primary schools within one km and 84% had upper primary
schools within 3 km. Special efforts were made to enroll SC/ST and
girls. The enrollment in primary and upper-primary schools has gone up
considerably since the first five-year plan. So has the number of
primary and upper-primary schools. In 1950-51, only 3.1 million
students had enrolled for primary education. In 1997-98, this figure
was 39.5 million. The number of primary and upper-primary schools was
0.223 million in 1950-51. This figure was 0.775 million in 1996-97.

In 2002/2003, an estimated 82% of children in the age group of 6-14
were enrolled in school. The Government of India aims to increase this
to 100% by the end of the decade. To achieve this the Government
launched Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The strategies adopted by the Government to check drop-out rate are:

Creating parental awareness
Community mobilization
Economic incentives
Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL)
District Primary Education Programme (DPEP)
National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (Mid-
day Meals Scheme)
The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act was passed by the parliament to
make the Right to Elementary Education a fundamental right and a
fundamental duty.
National Elementary Education Mission
A National Committee of State Education Ministers has been set up with
the Minister of Human Resource Development as the Chairperson of the
committee.
Media publicity and advocacy plans.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which function is the SCERT campus

[edit] Non-graduation market
This is a chart of non-graduation market of India as per Census 2001.

Educational level Holders
Total 502,994,684
Unclassified 97,756
Non-technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree 386,146
Technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree 3,666,680
Higher Secondary, Intermediate, Pre-university or Senior Secondary
37,816,215
Matriculation or Secondary 79,229,21

While availability of primary and upper primary schools has been to a
considerable extent been created, access to higher education remains a
major issue in rural areas (especially for girls). Government high
schools are usually taught in the regional language, however urban and
suburban schools usually teach in English. These institutions are
heavily subsidised. Study materials (such as textbooks, notebooks and
stationary) are sometime but not always subsidised. Government schools
follow the state curriculum.

There are also a number of private schools providing secondary
education. These schools usually either follow the State or national
curriculum. Some top schools provide international qualifications and
offer an alternative international qualification, such as the IB
program or A Levels.


[edit] Higher Education
Higher education in India has evolved in distinct and divergent
streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly
controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and funded by
the state governments. Most universities are administered by the
States, however, there are 18 important universities called Central
Universities, which are maintained by the Union Government. The
increased funding of the central universities give them an advantage
over state competitors.

The state of Indian higher education is indeed grim. There are no
Indian universities among top 300 in the world as per the first global
league table Academic Ranking of World Universities produced by
Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The Indian Institutes of Technology
were placed 50th in the world and 2nd in the field of Engineering
(next only to MIT) by Times Higher World University Rankings There are
several thousands colleges in India, Which provides technical
education. The Indian Technical Education are very strong these days.
They are producing millions of engineers every year. But, these
statistics are problematic because car mechanics and radio repairmen
also get classified as engineers.

International league tables produced in 2006 by the London-based Times
Higher Education Supplement(THES) confirmed Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU)'s place among the world's top 200 universities [2].
Likewise, THES 2006 ranked JNU's School of Social Sciences[3] at the
57th position among the world's top 100 institutes for social
sciences.

The National Law School of India University is highly regarded, with
some of its students being awarded Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford
University, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences is
consistently rated the top medical school in the country[citation
needed]. Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are the top management
institutes in India.[citation needed]

The private sector is strong in Indian higher education. This has been
partly as a result of the decision by the Government to divert
spending to the goal of universalisation of elementary education.
Within a decade different state assemblies has passed bills for
private universities, and some of these universities are performing
very well these universities includes Gyanvihar university, Amity
university, Rai university and many more.


[edit] Accreditation
Accreditation for universities in India is required by law unless it
was created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, the
government notes "these fake institutions have no legal entity to call
themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award ‘degree’ which
are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes"[4].
University Grants Commission Act 1956 explains,

"the right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only
by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act
carlo bon tempo, or a State Act, or an Institution deemed to be
University or an institution specially empowered by an Act of the
Parliament to confer or grant degrees. Thus, any institution which has
not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature
or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is
not entitled to award a degree."[4]

Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by autonomous
institutions established by the University Grants Commission[5]:

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Distance Education Council (DEC)
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
Bar Council of India (BCI)
National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
Medical Council of India (MCI)
Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)
Indian Nursing Council (INC)
Dental Council of India (DCI)
Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH)
Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM)
Veterinary Council of India (VCI)

[edit] Graduation market
This is a chart of [6] of India as per Census 2001.

Degree Holders
Total 37,670,147
Post-graduate degree other than technical degree 6,949,707
Graduate degree other than technical degree 25,666,044
Engineering and technology 2,588,405
Teaching 1,547,671
Medicine 768,964****
Agriculture and dairying 100,126
Veterinary 99,999
Other 22,588


[edit] History
For information about education in India in past centuries, see
History of education in India


[edit] Recent developments
NPE 1986 and revised PoA 1992 envisioned that free and compulsory
education should be provided for all children up to 14 years of age
before the commencement of 21st century. Government of India made a
commitment that by 2000, 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will
be spent on education, out of which half would be spent on the Primary
education.

The 86th Amendment of the Indian constitution makes education a
fundamental right for all children aged 6-14 years. The access to
preschool education for children under 6 years of age was excluded
from the provisions, and the supporting legislation has not yet been
passed.

In November 1998, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced
setting up of Vidya Vahini Network to link up universities, UGC and
CSIR.

The Indian Education System is generally marks-based. However, some
experiments have been made to do away with the marks-based system
which has led to cases of depression and suicides among students. In
2005, the Kerala government introduced a grades-based system in the
hope that it will help students to move away from the cut-throat
competition and rote-learning and will be able to focus on creative
aspects and personality development as well. iDiscoveri education
started by Alumni of Harvard, XLRI is a pioneer in this field. This
organization has already developed 5 model schools.


[edit] Outdoor Education in India
Outdoor education is relatively new to schools in rural areas of
India, though it is quite well established in urban areas. These trips
are conducted to enhance personal growth through experiential learning
and increase awareness about various subjects like the environment,
ecology, wildlife, history, archaeology, geography and adventure
sports.


[edit] Expenditure on Education in India
The Government expenditure on Education has greatly increased since
the First five-year plan. The Government of India has highly
subsidized higher education. Nearly 97% of the Central Government
expenditure on elementary education goes towards the payment of
teachers' salaries.



Data based on "Educational Planning and Administration in India :
Retrospect and Prospect", Journal for Education Planning and
Administration, Vol. VII, Number 2, NHIEPA. New Delhi by Dr. R. V.
Vaidayantha Ayyar.

Note:

Expenditure is in millions of Rupees
Expenditure for Ninth-year plan excludes Rs. 45267.40 million for Mid-
Day Meals

[edit] Initiatives

[edit] Non-Formal Education
In 1979-80, the Government of India, Department of Education launched
a program of Non-Formal Education (NFE) for children of 6-14 years age
group, who cannot join regular schools. These children include school
drop-outs, working children, children from areas without easy access
to schools etc. The initial focus of the scheme was on ten
educationally backward states. Later, it was extended to urban slums
as well as hilly, tribal and desert areas in other states. The program
is now functional in 25 states/UTs. 100% assistance is given to
voluntary organizations for running NFE centers.


[edit] Bal Bhavans
Bal Bhavans centers, which are operational all over India, aim to
enhance creative and sports skills of children in the age group 5-16
years. There are various State and District Bal Bhavans, which conduct
programs in fine-arts, aeromodeling, computer-education, sports,
martial arts, performing arts etc. They are also equipped with
libraries with books for children. New Delhi alone has 52 Bal Bhavan
centers. The National Bal Bhavan is an autonomous institution under
the Department of Education. It provides general guidance, training
facility and transfer of information to State and District Bal Bhavans
situated all over India.


[edit] Distance education
India has a large number of Distance education programmes in
Undergraduate and Post-Graduate levels. The trend was started
originally by private institutions that offered distance education at
certificate and diploma level. By 1985 many of the larger Universities
recognized the need and potential of distance education in a poor and
populous country like India and launched degree level programs through
distance education. The trend caught up, and today many prestigious
Indian Universities offer distance programs. Indira Gandhi National
Open University, one of the largest in student enrollment, has only
distance programs with numerous local centers that offer supplementary
contact classes.


[edit] Education for special sections of society

[edit] Women
Under Non-Formal Education programme, about 40% of the centers in
states and 10% of the centers in UTs are exclusively for girls. As of
2000, about 0.3 million NFE centers were catering to about 7.42
million children, out of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for
girls.

In engineering, medical and other colleges, 30% of the seats have been
reserved for women.


[edit] SC/STs and OBCs
The Government has reserved seats for SC/STs in all areas of
education. Special scholarships and other incentives are provided for
SC/ST candidates. Many State Governments have completely waived fees
for SC/ST students. The IITs have a special coaching program for the
SC/ST candidates who fail in the entrance exams marginally. Seats have
been reserved for candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes as
well in some states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The
struggle for reserving seats for students from OBC categories in elite
institutions like IITs, IIMs and AIIMS and Central Universities is
still going on. The Supreme Court of India is obstructing this
reservation for the reason that there has been no caste-wise census
since 1931 and the population share of OBCs cannot be based on 1931
census. The Department for the Welfare of SC/ST/OBC/Minorities
introduced the SC/ST tuition-fee reimbursement scheme in 2003-2004.
The scheme applies to SC and ST students of Delhi who are enrolled in
recognized unaided private schools and who have an annual family
income of less than Rs. 1 lakh. It provides a 100% reimbursement of
the tuition fees, sports fee, science fee, lab fee, admission fee and
the co-curricular fee if the student's family income falls below Rs.
48, 000 per annum and a reimbursement of 75% if the family income is
greater than Rs. 48, 000 per annum but less than Rs. 1 lakh. The
subsidy provided by the scheme covers between 85% and 90% of the
beneficiary's total running expenses in studying in a private school.


[edit] Post Graduate Classes at Correctional Homes
The Government of West Bengal has started the Post Graduate teaching
facilities for the convicts at the Correctional Homes in West Bengal.


[edit] Contemporary education issues
This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable
sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (June
2007)

Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote
learning. Emphasis is laid on passing examinations with high
percentage. Very few institutes give importance to developing
personality and creativity among students. Recently, the country has
seen a rise in instances of student suicides due to low marks and
failures, especially in metropolitan cities, even though such cases
are very rare. The boards are recently trying to improve quality of
education by increasing percentage of practical and project marks.

Many people also criticize the caste, language and religion-based
reservations in education system. Many allege that very few of the
weaker castes get the benefit of reservations and that forged caste
certificates abound. Educational institutions also can seek religious
minority (non-Hindu) or linguistic minority status. In such
institutions, 50% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to
a particular religion or having particular mother-tongue(s). For
example, many colleges run by the Jesuits and Salesians have 50% seats
reserved for Roman Catholics. In case of languages, an institution can
declare itself linguistic minority only in states in which the
language is not official language. For example, an engineering college
can declare itself as linguistic-minority (Hindi) institution in the
state of Maharashtra (where official state language is Marathi), but
not in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh (where the official state
language is Hindi). These reservations are said to be a cause of
heartbreak among many. Many students with poor marks manage to get
admissions, while meritorious students are left out. Critics say that
such reservations may eventually create rifts in the society.

Ragging is a major problem in colleges, many students die due to
ragging every year. Some state governments have made ragging a
criminal offense.

Expenditure on education is also an issue which comes under the
scanner. According to the Kothari commission led by Dr Vijay Kothari
in 1966, expenditure on education has to be minimum 6% of the GDP.
Whereas in 2004 expenditure on education stood at 3.52% of the GDP and
in the eleventh plan it is estimated to be around 4%. The "sarva
shikshan abhyan" has to receive sufficient funds from the central
government to impart quality education.


[edit] See also
India portal

Literacy in India
NCERT controversy

[edit] Further reading
Marie Lall, The Challenges for India's Education System, Chatham
House: London, 2005 (ASP BP 05/03)
Meenakshi Jain et al. (2003) History in the New NCERT Textbooks
Fallacies in the IHC Report, National Council of Educational Research
and Training, ISBN 81-7450-227-0
Rosser, Yvette. Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (2003) University of Texas at Austin.
PDF link

[edit] Notes
^ Foreign Univ Bill ’06 gets GoM okay 30 Nov, 2006
^ THES, "The World's Top 200 Universities", The Times Higher Education
Supplement, 6 October 2006. http://www.thes.co.uk/ (Subscription is
necessary to get access to much of THES content)
^ THES, "Top 100 in Social Sciences", The Times Higher Education
Supplement, 27 October 2006.
^ a b Central Universities
^ Higher Education
^ Indian Census

[edit] External links
Education in India: Primary Education
Primary education for profit likely to be allowed in India .....
Making Primary Education Work for India's Rural Poor: A Case for
Effective Decentralization ...
prayatna.typepad.com/education/primary_education/ - 73k - Cached -
Similar pages
Vidya Online
Vidya Online. A partnership for teachers, children and education ...
will enable introspection, discussion and examination of issues in
primary education. ...
www.vidyaonline.net/ - 7k - Cached - Similar pages
AboutKidsHealth: News: Primary education in India
Read about the low rates of primary education in India, and the
struggle to get children to school. There are many complex reasons for
this struggle.
www.aboutkidshealth.ca/News/Primary-education-in-India.aspx?articleID=8224&categoryID=news-poh4
- 71k - Cached - Similar pages
India Education
Increasing the scope of Operation Blackboard for upliftment of
standard of primary education in India. Secondary education curriculum
should expose the ...
www.mapsofindia.com/india-education.html - 49k - Cached - Similar
pages
Education : Educational Schemes : Schemes for Elementary/Primary ...
Selected State-wise Assistance Proved by World Bank under District
Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in India (2003-2004 to
2005-2006) ...
www.indiastat.com/india/ShowData.asp?secid=368678&ptid=6374&level=3 -
64k - Cached - Similar pages
India Today Agenda [Primary Education: Class Struggle]
A resounding 80.2 per cent of parents felt primary education should be
made compulsory for all children. While 98 per cent stressed it was
important for ...
www.ashanet.org/library/articles/india_today.19971013.html - 26k -
Cached - Similar pages

Child Labour Inquiry
Child Labour in India: Causes, Governmental Policies and the role of
Education ... Causes of child labour in India and governmental policy
dealing with it ...
www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/9175/inquiry1.htm - 43k - Cached
- Similar pages - Note this
Child Labor India
India has all along followed a proactive policy in the matter of
tackling the problem of child labour. India has always stood for
constitutional, ...
www.indianchild.com/child_labor_india.htm - 19k - Cached - Similar
pages - Note this
Govt. of India Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour Government of India. ... Rescue, Repatriation and
Rehabilitation of Trafficked and Migrant Child Labour (Comments
invited) ...
labour.nic.in/ - 74k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
INTRODUCING CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
Researchers give a range of incidence of child labour in India from
about 14 million to about 100 million. Some studies show every fourth
child in the age ...
www.oikonomia.it/pages/ott2000/introducingchildlabourinindi.htm - 51k
- Cached - Similar pages - Note this
India Together: IN TABLES - Child labour in India - 01 July 2006
1 Jul 2006 ... Its really a good compilation of data and a good sourse
for any research work on the issue of Child Labour. It helps me a lot
in my study of ...
www.indiatogether.org/photo/2006/chi-labour.htm - 41k - Cached -
Similar pages - Note this
Child Labour in India
Information on Child Labour in India. ... Child labor in India is a
human right issue for the whole world. It is a serious and extensive
problem, ...
www.childlabor.in/child-labour-in-india.htm - 9k - Cached - Similar
pages - Note this
Child Labor in India
Child labor in India is a grave and extensive problem. Children under
the age of 14 are forced to work in glass-blowing, fireworks, and most
commonly, ...
pangaea.org/street_children/asia/carpet.htm - 7k - Cached - Similar
pages - Note this
Child Labour in India,Child Labour Law,Child Labor Law Poster ...
Child Labour in India,Child Labour Law,Child Labor Law Poster,Child
Labour In India,Child Labor Picture,State Child Labor Law,India Child
Labor Law,Child ...
azadindia.org/social-issues/child-labour-in-india.html - 14k - Cached
- Similar pages - Note this
Infant mortality across India - July 2003 - India Together
July 2003: Vital rates in general, and the infant mortality rate in
particular, have improved over time in India. Infant mortality
decreased by 14.73% ...
www.indiatogether.org/photo/2003/inf-mortal.htm - 32k - Cached -
Similar pages - Note this
[PDF]
Infant and Child Mortality in India
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
Infant mortality declined 23 percent in India between 1981 and 1990,
and child ...... In summary, infant and child mortality in India tend
to be high. ...
www2.eastwestcenter.org/pop/misc/subj-11.pdf - Similar pages - Note
this
by A Pandey - Cited by 32 - Related articles - All 7 versions
India Infant mortality rate - Demographics
India Infant mortality rate. India > Demographics. Infant mortality
rate: total: 32.31 deaths/1000 live births male: 36.94 deaths/1000
live births ...
indexmundi.com/india/infant_mortality_rate.html - 6k - Cached -
Similar pages - Note this
Community based retrospective study of sex in infant mortality in ...
The principal causes of infant mortality in India are low birth
weight, birth injury, diarrhoeal diseases, and acute respiratory
infection.10 In our study ...
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=165706 - Similar
pages - Note this
by R Khanna - 2003 - Cited by 18 - Related articles - All 10 versions
Estimated Infant Mortality Rate For The 15 Major States of India ...
Infant mortality rate map showing the estimated infant mortality rate
in 1992 for the 15 major states of India.
www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/h3i33.htm - 13k - Cached - Similar
pages - Note this
[PDF]
Reducing child mortality in India in the new millennium
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
documents the slowing decline in infant mortality rates in India; a
departure from the ..... underlie child and infant mortality
throughout India. ...
whqlibdoc.who.int/bulletin/2000/Number%2010/78(10)1192-1199.pdf -
Similar pages - Note this
by M Claeson - 2000 - Cited by 58 - Related articles - All 9 versions
InfoChange India News & Features development news India ...
States are sorted by increasing infant mortality rate for 2001.
Source: Office of the Registrar General of India, Ministry of Home
Affairs ...
infochangeindia.org/200210025842/Children/Statistics/Statewise-Infant-
Mortality-rates-in-India.html - 63k - Cached - Similar pages - Note
this
InfoChange India News & Features development news India - Life ...
State, Life expectancy at birth (2001-06), Infant Mortality Rate (per
1000 live births) (2000). Male, Female, Male, Female, Total. INDIA,
63.87, 66.91, 67 ...
infochangeindia.org/200210025865/.../Life-Expectancy-and-Infant-
Mortality-Rates-for-Selected-Indian-States... - 42k - Cached - Similar
pages - Note this
Neonatal deaths hamper India's infant mortality targets -- Mudur ...
19 Jan 2004 ... India will be unable to achieve any substantial
further drop in its infant mortality without first intensifying
efforts to protect babies ...
www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abridged/327/7426/1249 - Similar pages - Note
this
by G Mudur - 2003 - Cited by 1 - Related articles - All 3 versions
Infant Mortality and Life Expectancy for Selected Countries, 2007 ...
More on Infant Mortality and Life Expectancy for Selected Countries
2007 from Infoplease:. Life Expectancy by Age, 1850-2004 - Life
Expectancy by Age, ...
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004393.html - 44k - Cached - Similar pages -
Note this