The historic "Right to Education" comes into force in India on a rather ironic "April Fool's Day". Here's hoping that this one does not turn out to be a mockery given that the other fundamental rights are often denied to many a people.
Come to think of it, I feel that these are moves which are more of an attempt to hog limelight instead of ones with a long term vision of proper implementation. One after the other, decisions which promise to change the face of education in India have been rolled out by Sibal saheb. At times, it seems like these programs have been introduced by him with the sole objective of having his name associated with huge projects so that posterity could speak - "Sibal saheb ki wahaj se hi ye sab ho paya hai." What makes me wonder is, are equipped to handle these as quickly as they have been declared. Surely, with such grandiloquent plans, comes the burden of intense planning and proper channelizing of both funds and resources. What I mean to say is that the support structure to implement such a plan is of enormous importance apart from the plan itself.
I read that XY amount of money has been allocated towards implementation of RTE. But if this money goes through the bureaucratic channels in the same manner as it does in other fields, the trickling down effect of money would kill the purpose of RTE. Mechanism to get the money to the right place is of paramount importance for us be able to implement RTE. The good thing is, RTE guarantees Quality Education and not just education which makes it a potent tool in shaping the youth of India. It promises to provide students learning through activities, exploration and discovery. Again, the bill completely leaves the burden on schools to provide proper teachers, playgrounds and activity centers. Just passing on the burden will not be of any use unless we could do something to support the grass-root level institutions to develop their infrastructure. All the more important is availability of Quality teachers, which we are already short of in India. How exactly is that demand going to be met? The schools themselves will require a complete overhaul to provide the apt pedagogic conditions since each school will be expected to cater a larger number of students.
A very intrinsic supposition which comes with the RTE is that child-labor will be abolished, which is great. But ain't there laws already against child labor? How is it going to be ensured that the children are brought out of the dusty factories and sent to schools? This will be one major question denting the prospects of the right and some tough measures will need to be taken to overcome the predicament.
The finance is there, but if it's not released at the right time and to the right institutions, the complete endeavor would end up just making a few people richer. Institutions at every level need to come together and make a herculean effort to make the 'implementation' of RTE a reality. Introducing the right was indeed a pre-requisite towards ensuring every child gets education, but it's hardly the sufficient step.
A cartoon from today's The Hindu edition very aptly depicts the current scenario:
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