School education: Strict rules bar orphans from RTE benefits

Apr 25, 2012, 04.49AM IST TNN[ Syed Intishab Ali ]
JAIPUR: The stringent provisions of the Right to Education Act 2010, making it mandatory for all to produce income certificate, caste certificate, BPL card and birth certificate, have now claimed a few innocent victims: orphaned children. Schools are not admitting them as they want documents which orphaned children can never produce.

Although the schools are willing to admit such children, the RTE Act, which provides for 25% seats for economically weaker sections in private schools, has also made it mandatory for all children to produce income certificate of parents, caste certificate, BPL card and birth certificate.

For the past 20 days, the Jaipur-based Ashrya Care Home's superintendent Sushila Morthiya has been running from pillar to post to admit two children to private schools. In her child care home, which is housed in a marriage garden premises in the Chitrakoot area of the city, 22 orphaned children are lodged.

One of the children is a 3- year-old, who was abandoned by parents and was brought to the childcare home by the police. Later on when the HIV test was conducted, the boy was tested positive.

Morthiya said, "The boy has no caste certificate, no income certificate, no birth certificate and BPL card. I am trying hard to get him admitted to a school under RTE Act. Since the schools are demanding such documents, all my efforts went in vain." She claimed that she had met school principals and higher officials of the education department but no one has answers to her queries.

When asked about the provision of the RTE regarding documents, education minister Brij Kishore Sharma said: "It is compulsory for all to submit the documents to get admission under RTE. Without such documents, no one can take benefit of the RTE." When asked how an orphan can submit such documents, he said he would look into the matter.

District education officer, Jaipur, Shiv Charan Meena said: "Unlike SCs, STs, BPL, disabled, there is no separate category mentioned for orphans in RTE. So, we have sought guidelines from the government on what documents orphans shall produce to get the benefit of RTE."

Meena had written a letter to the primary education %department on April 18, seeking directions and is waiting for a reply.

Times View

This is an obvious case of a lacuna in the RTE. Obviously, the legislative didn't want children with parents to be kept out of the benefits of RTE. If this problem can be dealt with by administrative orders or rules framed under the Act, that should be done pronto. If not, an amendment must be made to the Act at the earliest. In that event, we would expect all parties to cooperate with the government for a quick passage of the amendment. Time is of the essence in whatever action is taken since any delay the most vulnerable children would be denied the benefits of this landmark legislation in the coming academic year.


http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/12860724.cms

Mission 25% in Delhi not a grand success

Ashpreet Sethi, April 22, 2012

Delhi, the first city to toy with 25 per cent quota for poor students in private schools much before the Right to Education Act came into force, has not been able to achieve 100 per cent success.

The Delhi experience has not been an exciting one, claim lawyers and activists. They say for many children government schools are the only hope, but Delhi does not have the infrastructure to accommodate all children in the school going age. The onus of “quality education” lies with private schools that are either not adhering to laws or misrepresenting facts.

“Till private schools are not discussed, issues pertaining to government schools also do not come to the forefront. Parents applying under the EWS category are being forced to pay Rs 2,000 for admissions on the sly even in government schools when the law states that education should be free for them,” said Ashok Agarwal, an advocate and RTE campaigner.

Experts say the argument for 25 per cent seats for poor in all schools is to ensure social integration between the rich and poor. “Both are citizens of India and have the same rights under the Constitution. The private sector does not have a monopoly over quality as Kendriya Vidyalaya schools run by the government outperform a huge percentage of private schools. However, it goes without saying that government schools need to be enhanced and that is the principal thrust of the Act anyway,” said Anjela Taneja, education coordinator, Oxfam India.

Seats vacant
More than 9,000 EWS seats are still lying vacant in 1,183 private schools and nearly 765 schools have not given admission to students applying under this category in the 2011-12 academic year. An RTI application reveals that some of the city's top schools like Birla Vidhya Niketan, Bal Niketan Public School, St Xaviers School and others did not admit a single EWS student.

“Most of the EWS students are asked to withdraw from schools for no valid reasons or peculiar reasons, such as the student does not fit well in class, is a slow learner, parents are objecting to the mix of students in a class and others. On one hand we are trying to promote inclusive education and on the other we are discriminating against them,” said Khagesh Jha, another advocate.

Taneja added that the Supreme Court verdict iterated that every child in India is entitled to the standards laid down under the RTE Act. “These norms have to be met in both government and private schools by 2013,” she said.

However, Ameeta Wattal, principal of Springdales school and Vice Chairperson of National Schools Progressive Alliance, believes that this endeavour of providing education to all will not be successful till there is full co-operation between the department of education and private schools. “There is no communication from the government and clarity about reimbursements for the non-fee students,” said Wattal.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/243833/mission-25-delhi-not-grand.html

Delhi HC directs schools to fill 10,000 vacant seats from poor students

Directing to state's government education department to strictly get followed the Right to Education (RTE) act 2009 from all private sector schools, which generally avoid to take admission to the poor students despite having 25% quota, the Delhi High Court (HC) Friday stated that all around 10,000 vacant seats from Economic Weaker Society (EWS) quota should be filled in 1,186 non -government aided private schools in this summer vacation for the session 2012-13 before July 2012, the next session of beginning the schools.

The order came after the Delhi government informed the court that around 9,835 nursery seats under the EWS category are vacant in 1,186 unaided private schools in 2012-13 session.

A bench, headed by acting chief justice AK Sikri, also asked the director of education to decide in a month on bringing orphan children under ?child belonging to disadvantaged group? under RTE (Right to Education) Act, 2009. This would help them become eligible for admission under the 25% EWS reservation, the court observed.

"So that the orphan child also becomes eligible for admission under 25 percent EWS reservation," the court observed.

Disposing off the petition filed by an NGO, Social Jurist, the bench also ordered that the admission process will be conducted by the deputy director of education and not by the schools.

Appearing for Social Jurist, advocate Ashok Agarwal had argued that the city's unaided private schools failed to comply with the provisions of RTE Act relating to grant of admissions to the extent of 25 percent seats to the children belonging to EWS section.

Students belonging to disadvantaged groups and EWS, admitted in unaided private private schools under the RTE Act, are entitled, free of cost, to all facilities and provisions including books, uniform, smart classes etc. from the school which are made available to fee-paying students.

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/4/21/94-Delhi-HC-directs-schools-to-fill-10000-vacant-seats-from-poor-students.html

Parents protest against admission irregularities outside DoE’s office

New Delhi, April 23, 2012, DHNS:

Around 20 parents were protesting against irregularities in admission process outside Directorate of Education's office in Delhi on Monday.

Parents plan to begin a hunger strike if the director does not meet them shortly. 

These parents have been protesting outside Maxfort School in Rohini for past 26 days. The school has not been transparent in organising the draw of lots for admissions under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category.

The school had held two draws till date which were cancelled. The school authorities have also reduced the number of EWS seats to 15, when they are ideally supposed to admit over 60 students. Parents were forced to sit on the road as gates of DoE's office were locked.

“The security guards asked us to sit in the sun and closed the gates to ensure that we could not enter the director's office,” said Satyaprakash, a parent. 

However, Dewan Chand, special secretary of education, DoE said parents should be patient.

“The matter has been taken up to the High Court and we have also assured that we are looking into it. What is the hurry? Parents should not be this impatient. We will not give permission to protest outside our office premises,” he added.
But parents are adamant on meeting the director.

“We will sit on a hunger strike if the need arises. This is our right. Our children have the right to study,” said Solanki, another parent. 

Pooja Garg claims that the police took away her child to the police station as he was standing with his father outside Maxfort school.

“The police took four children to the station. Every other school in Rohini has conducted genuine draw of lots except Maxfort,” she said.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/244361/parents-protest-against-admission-irregularities.html

SC verdict on RTE: An eye-wash to the community

New Delhi: Still recovering from an admission season that has left them humiliated and angry at being treated like second-class citizens by a hostile private school culture and an indifferent government administration, it isn’t surprising that last week’s Supreme Court (SC) judgment has failed to cheer up parents from the economically weaker sections.

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court last week (12 April) directed all private schools (excluding unaided minority schools) to immediately reserve 25 percent of their seats for children from economically weaker sections (EWS) as per the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

In the shanty neighbourhoods of East Delhi’s resettlement colonies and slum clusters, parents are deeply disillusioned by the government’s shoddy and apathetic attitude in enforcing the 25 percent reservation in private schools.

After running pillar to post – first to get the necessary documents and then to submit forms in multiple private schools, Mamta’s son was denied admission in the ten schools she applied to. She has now admitted her son Ankit in a government school.

“After all the hardwork and money we put in to submit those forms, we were not even allowed to enter the school premises to meet the principal to ask why my child didn’t make it to the lucky draw,” says a distraught Mamta, who earns money selling vegetables. She makes about Rs 200 a day.

Mamta, a fruit vendor, hasn't recovered from her bitter experience of trying to admit her son Ankit in a private school under the EWS category as per the RTE Act. Pallavi Polanki/Firstpost

“Why bother giving us forms. Why not tell us before that we are not eligible. We didn’t put all our money and sweat just to have our forms rejected,” says Mamta referring to mass rejection of forms by private schools in the middle of the admission season after the Delhi High Court (HC) order in February.

The HC order introduced a neighbourhood criterion for admitting children from EWS category which automatically excluded majority of the children from applying to private schools that are located in richer neighbourhoods, beyond 1 km from their houses.

Copy of the HC order pasted outside their school walls, private schools didn’t waste any time closing their doors back shut to students from the EWS category.

“Which private school is going to be located in the slums? The majority of the private schools are located at distances more than 1 km. So where are we supposed to go?” asked another angry mother Santosh.

The frustration is widespread. “How can it be that nobody from our neighbourhood has been selected in any of the schools? We don’t even know when these schools conducted the lucky draw to select students. They should conduct the lucky draw again,” says Ashu, whose efforts to get her niece admitted in a private school have come to naught.

Of the 145 applications submitted from Trilokpuri slums, only 28 students were accepted by over dozen private schools that are located in the vicinity.

The opaque system and absence of a people-friendly atmosphere in private schools and in the government education department is making a lot parents angry and that is not healthy, says Thomas of Joint Action for Social Help (JOSH), which is working with parents in Trilokpuri’s resettlement and slum clusters to enforce the Right to Education Act.

Thomas explains, for example, how the draw of lots in schools this year caused problems for parents. “The order of the education department says that the school should put up notice on their premises a week before the draw of lots for selection of students. The schools simply send an SMS in English. Parents who are daily wage earners would come to us a day later and ask us to read out the message to them. By then the draw of lots was done. Some schools sent couriers. Parents who live in slums, don’t have door numbers. The courier reached five days later. What are the parents to do?”

So while there is a lot of fanfare that the RTE is being implemented, the reality seems to be a series of hurdles designed to eventually frustrate parents to opt out.

“And that is already beginning to happen. Parents are fed-up. They don’t want to forego yet another’s day’s wages to run from office to office. It is an eye-wash to the community,” says Thomas.

Between mid-January and beginning of March, JOSH sent 135 complaints of violations by private schools in EWS admissions to the department of education and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
Response by the department of education to last year’s complaints, inspires little confidence. “For the complaints we sent last year, the department of education sent us a letter in December saying that they have received our complaint. We are filing an application under RTI (right to information) to know the status of our complaints,” says Thomas.

For Reeta and Jyothi, residents of Trilokpuri and field workers with JOSH, the task of convincing mothers to demand their rights has only got harder. “Parents are angry with us because they feel all their efforts have been in vain. But we will have to get people together again and make sure that they don’t give up on their dreams,” says Jyothi, whose two children like many others weren’t able to get admission in a private school this year in the EWS category.

JOSH is working in 12 slums (each slum has about 300 households) and 18 blocks (each about 500 households) in Trilokpuri and five blocks in Kalyanpuri.

Disabled pin hopes on RTE Act

Poorva Subramanium is barely 10 years old, but has learnt an important lesson in life — not to trouble her parents when they come out of the schools they have been visiting these days. “It is frustrating. No school wants to admit her. She is good at shapes, colours and can also read,” says her mother, showing her report card from a special school here that deems her, ‘Fit to be admitted in a mainstream school'.

“The special school that she studies in has assured us that they will get her into a school nearby that admits special children. We wanted to try other private schools too, but the response has been bad,” says the mother.

Poorva is one of five children with cerebral palsy in a class of twenty who have received this report, but it looks like she might have to wait for a few more years to be part of a mainstream school.

The Right to Education (RTE) Act that makes elementary education a right for all children between the ages of 6 and 14, promises to revolutionise the education sector. Tamil Nadu's rules for implementing the Act makes them eligible for admission to a private, neighbourhood school by including children with disabilities in ‘disadvantaged groups', under the provision to reserve 25 per cent seats. However, inclusion of students with disabilities will warrant certain specific provisions, including an accessible curriculum, teacher training programmes and sports, say activists. “Most of the children who have been integrated into mainstream schools are happy in their new surroundings because there is so much new to learn. But a few come back too, citing a lack of basic understanding from new peers and teachers. One girl recently came back to us because she could not access the toilets in the mainstream school,” points out Smitha Sadasivan, a member of the Disability Rights Alliance, Tamil Nadu.

This is where home-schooling could help. The Persons With Disabilities Act also talks this. Activists, though, fear it might be seen as an alternative to regular schooling, rather than a preparatory system.

In Chennai, home-based education is not all that popular. About 200 children with disabilities are enrolled in a day care centres run by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). Many of them have multiple disabilities, including neurological disorders, cerebral palsy, visual disabilities and physical disabilities. Special educators and physiotherapists are sent to the children in their homes and an annual survey determines how many of them are actually fit to be put into mainstream schools. “The inclusion rate is minimal because most parents feel there is not much need to educate the child, especially when he can't move at all,” says Gayathri Prabhu, a special educator, formerly with the SSA.

However, disability activists emphasise the need to see home-based education purely as a supplement. Otherwise, children with disabilities, who could be integrated into mainstream schools, would end up staying at home. In Karnataka, home-based education has not been accepted and is used only as a preparation for schooling. In States including Himachal Pradesh, children educated at home are collected together in one centre and later integrated into a regular school.

“There is a lot of ambiguity about whether home-schooling will fit into the scheme of the RTE Act and if so how, and what happens to those in rural areas,” says Praveen Rajagopalan, a special educator and parent of a child with multiple disabilities.

Mr. Rajagopalan points out that in developed countries, including the U.S., 49 out of 50 states regulate home-based education and education providers need to file a ‘declaration of intent' and follow certain procedures. “What kind of curriculum would they have under home-based education? What would be the standard and how would it be regulated,” he asks.

And then there are special schools. A 2008 UNESCO report on inclusive education in India indicates that close to 30 per cent of the country's children with special needs were out of school. Most special schools are in cities, while 70 per cent of these children live in rural areas.

Special schools will warrant more attention in light of the RTE Act. In order to do that, policy makers might have to reflect on certain administrative procedures, say activists. Ms. Sadasivan says the RTE Act leaves out special schools which come under the NGO sector. “Moreover, these schools come under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and not the Ministry of Human Resource Department. It is like washing away all responsibility,” she adds.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3318212.ece

RTE may spell end for colony schools

TNN | Apr 16, 2012, 02.42AM IST
NEW DELHI: If Right To Education norms are earnestly implemented, the regulations can place privately run neighbourhood schools, currently filling a crucial gap between government-run facilities and elite private schools, at the mercy of an inspector raj.

Provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act are fairly draconian in derecognizing schools that fail to fulfill conditions such teacher-student ratios and physical infrastructure within a three-year period since the enactment of the law that will end in March 2013.

With recent reports like the RTE Forum's study pointing out that barely 5% of government schools meet the Act's norms for facilities like playground space, toilets and laboratories, the neighbourhood school is not likely to fare much better although it meets a felt need, albeit imperfectly.

The Act's intent to set out minimum norms and make running of schools less exploitative - capitation fees and underpaid staff are common - is seen as laudable but in the absence of a reliable oversight mechanism and a lack of planned development in most cities, the regulations can throttle private enterprise.

Section 19 of the Act clearly states that recognition to schools will be withdrawn where a school fails to adhere to the norms and standards and any one who violates this stipulation can face a fine of Rs 1 lakh. New schools must meet the norms.

It has been left to the local authority to provide free and compulsory education as well as ensure availability of neighbourhood schools. The local authority is to also track compliance by ensuring children from weaker sections are not discriminated against and in general "monitor functioning of schools in its jurisdiction".

The rapid growth of private schools has been driven by a hunger for education, particularly in English, with the Annual Status of Education Report pointing out that nearly 50% of rural children pay for their education in private schools or to a private tutor. The figure is higher for cities.

In north India, the levels of private enrollment are around 30% and rising while the percentage for northeast is 40%. In states like Bihar and Orissa, where there is a larger deficit in private schools, students opt for additional private tuitions. It has even been seen that children enroll in government school for exams but actually attend private tuitions, only visiting schools for midday meals.

Despite hefty increases in government spending on education, parents are "voting with the feet," noted Pratham, pointing to the trend of private schools finding favour with nearly all social classes.

The norms set out by RTE, the RTE Forum pointed out, included a separate toilet each for girls and boys, a playground and a library for every school with sufficient reading material, electrification of the school building, ramp access for disabled students, and computers.

On the whole, Indian schools, with government running close to 80% of them, woefully lack facilities. One in 10 schools are deficient in drinking water facilities, 40% do not have a functional common toilet while another 40% lack a separate toilet for girls.

Some 60% of schools are not electrified and few have computers. Close to half have student ratios higher than the norms prescribed by the Act.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/12681674.cms

JAIPUR: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Constitutional validity of the right of children to get free and compulsory education under the Right To Education (RTE) Act which also makes it mandatory for the private schools to reserve 25% seats for the underprivileged children. While social activists hailed the ruling and the school authorities remained unimpressed, it would be long before the beneficiaries actually understand and gain out of the directive. Lack of awareness is one of the major challenges that the state government needs to overcome to ensure that the directive is well implemented. Most people below the poverty line are unaware of the provisions under the Act and surprised to know that their kids too can go to a well-known private school in their areas. Basanti Biswas, a mother of four children, said she works as a maid so that she can fulfill the needs of her children. "I can't read and write, therefore I want my children to study and become something in their life. Our earnings are very low and don't have enough money to pay the fees of a private school. I am sending my children to the government school but we are dissatisfied by the education provided there," she said. Most teachers in government schools don't seem pay attention towards the education of their students. Some parents charged them with taking their children out of their classes before the time to their homes and engaged them in their household work. "My elder daughter who is in the 3rd standard was taken by her class teacher to her for household work. On the complaint of my daughter, I went to her school and she wasn't there. She was never present whenever I went to her school," a parent said. Lavraj Singh Rathore, a screen printing worker and a father of three said, "I was happy when I heard the news that the government has passed the RTE Act. My daughter is two-year-old and my other two kids go to private schools. The school fee that I have to pay is Rs 900 for three months and my earnings are not well. It will be a good opportunity for our kids if they get a quality education and without fees. But I don't know whether the schools will agree to this decision or not." Abdul, a fish seller said, "Since the last three years I haven't sent my kid to school because I don't have money to pay the fees." Abdul was not aware about the RTE and when informed about it, he said does not have much hope from it. "I have been watching the functioning of various governments for the past 30 years. Tall promised are made but only few fulfilled,'' he said, adding that he would be the happiest father if his kids could go back to school. Munish kumar, an RTE activist said, "We will draw support from the students to create awareness on the provisions of Right to Education Act by distributing pamphlets and street plays in the slum areas." District education officer S C Meena said, "The state government has planned many activities to create awareness on the most important provisions of this Act which says that 25 % seats to be reserved for the economically disadvantage group." http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-16/jaipur/31349441_1_s-c-meena-school-fee-private-schools

Sonam Saini, TNN Apr 16, 2012, 03.44AM IST

JAIPUR: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Constitutional validity of the right of children to get free and compulsory education under the Right To Education (RTE) Act which also makes it mandatory for the private schools to reserve 25% seats for the underprivileged children. While social activists hailed the ruling and the school authorities remained unimpressed, it would be long before the beneficiaries actually understand and gain out of the directive.

Lack of awareness is one of the major challenges that the state government needs to overcome to ensure that the directive is well implemented. Most people below the poverty line are unaware of the provisions under the Act and surprised to know that their kids too can go to a well-known private school in their areas.

Basanti Biswas, a mother of four children, said she works as a maid so that she can fulfill the needs of her children. "I can't read and write, therefore I want my children to study and become something in their life. Our earnings are very low and don't have enough money to pay the fees of a private school. I am sending my children to the government school but we are dissatisfied by the education provided there," she said.

Most teachers in government schools don't seem pay attention towards the education of their students. Some parents charged them with taking their children out of their classes before the time to their homes and engaged them in their household work. "My elder daughter who is in the 3rd standard was taken by her class teacher to her for household work. On the complaint of my daughter, I went to her school and she wasn't there. She was never present whenever I went to her school," a parent said.

Lavraj Singh Rathore, a screen printing worker and a father of three said, "I was happy when I heard the news that the government has passed the RTE Act. My daughter is two-year-old and my other two kids go to private schools. The school fee that I have to pay is Rs 900 for three months and my earnings are not well. It will be a good opportunity for our kids if they get a quality education and without fees. But I don't know whether the schools will agree to this decision or not."

Abdul, a fish seller said, "Since the last three years I haven't sent my kid to school because I don't have money to pay the fees." Abdul was not aware about the RTE and when informed about it, he said does not have much hope from it. "I have been watching the functioning of various governments for the past 30 years. Tall promised are made but only few fulfilled,'' he said, adding that he would be the happiest father if his kids could go back to school.

Munish kumar, an RTE activist said, "We will draw support from the students to create awareness on the provisions of Right to Education Act by distributing pamphlets and street plays in the slum areas."

District education officer S C Meena said, "The state government has planned many activities to create awareness on the most important provisions of this Act which says that 25 % seats to be reserved for the economically disadvantage group."

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-16/jaipur/31349441_1_s-c-meena-school-fee-private-schools

What are the challenges & possible solutions in the implementation of RTE Act

17 APR, 2012, 05.33AM IST, LABONITA GHOSH,ET BUREAU 

A fourth of school students will need to be from less-privileged sections of society following an SC ruling on the RTE Act. While this can bring in social transformation, there are implementation challenges. Educationists share some solutions with Labonita Ghosh 

Problem 1: WHO WILL FOOT THE BILL? 

The government has offered to pay for the 25% of less-privileged students who will now have to be admitted into private schools, but it's not clear what exactly this will cover. Certain that the government grant will fall short, schools fear they may have to pass on the burden of this additional cost to the regular fees-paying parents. While this is both unfair, and likely to cause outrage, here are some other ways schools can source for this expense. 

Solution 1: GO CORPORATE 

Sudeshna Chatterjee, principal of Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai, feels schools can tie up with business houses or industry leaders keen to invest in education (like Shiv Nadar, Azim Premji and others), and have them bear the additional cost. "With CSR a big mandate, corporate houses are always looking out for appropriate activities to fund," says Chatterjee. 

"So now, alongside volunteers from companies building schools, they can fund the underprivileged kids' education as well." Companies could raise money through their CSR, sustainability or payroll programmes, and channel them into a school of their choice. "Everybody supports the growth and spread of education," adds Chatterjee. "But this will clearly be a non-commercial growth." 

Solution 2: ADOPT A SCHOOL 

Educationists feel the Act, instead of making it mandatory for civic schools to improve standards, has shifted responsibility of education for all to private schools. Vandana Lulla, principal of Mumbai-based Podar International, says if private schools were allowed to adopt a civic school, they could bring in accountability, direction or even proper implementation. Adopting a municipal school means the quality of education at the private school does not get compromised, while the latter also helps reenergise a civic school, adds Chatterjee. 

Problem 2: DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM 

One of the biggest preoccupations of educationists and school principals is that of integrating children from the economically weaker sections with the others, and trying to bring parity between different levels of education and exposure. 

Solution 1: CLASSES IN SHIFTS 

Though the act insists on assimilation in the same classroom, educationists feel it would be easier, at least in the beginning, to conduct classes in shifts. "We could have separate classes for kids from the poorer sections, but taught by the same teachers and with access to the same facilities," says MP Sharma, former principal and director at GD Somany school. 

"Teachers would have to put in extra hours for which they would be suitably remunerated." He suggests deferring the inclusion of children from the less-privileged sections for a short while for schools to conduct 'remedial' classes to bring them up to speed with lessons. Activists feel schools should be allowed to extend initiatives aimed at assimilation as they see fit. 

Solution 2: LEAVE IT TO THE KIDS 

"The problem of assimilation is in our minds," says educationist Farida Lambay, co-founder of Pratham, a nonprofit that promotes education for the underprivileged. "Some convent and minority schools have been doing this for years, and they've never had problems of integration." Lambay feels schools should just go ahead and implement the quota, and the children will manage. 

Schools can have 'buddy' groups with the older children helping their not-so-privileged peers settle in. The school could have special monitoring systems to track the performance and comfort level of the new joinees; enlist volunteers to make regular home visits to keep the parents updated and ease the transition for the children. 

Solution 3: A CLASS-NEUTRAL ENVIRONMENT 

If it's hard to look beyond the socio-economic differences, schools must be urged to develop a [social] class-neutral atmosphere. Like discouraging home-brought tiffin and having a common canteen for all the students. Or a common stationery shop where everyone buys their supplies. "Some schools, which have kids from amixed income group, have already banned certain kinds of pencil boxes and fancy school supplies to create uniformity," says Lambay, adding that all this should be done without a fuss. 

Solution 4: SHOWCASE EARLY MOVERS 

Integration will come with more understanding, says Shaheen Mistry, head of the non-profit , Teach for India. "If we believe our kids should grow up with diversity, implementation will fall into place. We will design creative solutions at the school level to deal with this," she says. The idea is to get some schools to make a start - perhaps the smaller ones with the more progressive educators - and make an example of them. "We need to show it's possible because inclusion is the right thing to do," she adds. 

Problem 3: TRAUMATIC TRANSITION FOR POORER KIDS 

Solution 1: COUNSELLOR ON CALL 

While educationists welcome the idea that now, even marginalised children will get a shot at quality education, thanks to the RTE Act, they ask schools to guard against the possible psychological effects of free mixing on the less privileged kids. "Children from poorer homes might develop an inferiority complexstudying side by side with those from better-off homes," says Arundhati Chavan, president, United Forum for Parent-Teachers Association, Mumbai. 

"They will also be able to now see all the things they can't afford and may either develop an inferiority complex, or try to get those things through other means." According to MP Sharma of GD Somany, one possible solution could be to have a team of special counsellors on campus, especially those trained in handling children from lower income groups. "Schools must also make it clear to teachers that there can be no discrimination in the classroom," says Sharma. 

Solution 2: GET PARENTS ON BOARD 

A few years ago, when a school in Ahmedabad decided to expand its student base and start admitting less-privileged children, many outraged parents staged a walk-out . Private school principals are certain they may face some opposition from fees-paying guardians and are keen to prevent this. "The well-to-do parents may object to their kids going to school with children from poorer families," says Lulla of Podar International, "but they probably won't mind if the transition is managed well." 

One way to get the parents on board, says Mistry, is for the school to regularly engage with them through meetings and frequent 'sensitisation' workshops. Another way would be for the school to invite parents to come in and see for themselves - perhaps as volunteers helping out with the lunchtime rush or as minders of a class during special periods.

Problem 4: WHO DECIDES WHO IS POOR? 

While the Act refers to children from the 'most vulnerable' sections of society finding place in private schools, it leaves the finer points of eligibility to the state. "The act does not define what it means by poor children. Does this include kids of those who have HIV, or from BPL homes?" asks Jayant Jain of the Forum for Fairness in Education. 

Solution 1: BE SPECIFIC 

"We recommend that the state sticks to the designated categories of children from SC/ST families," says Lambay of Pratham. In urban areas, it could include street children, child labourers and kids displaced by development projects. 

In rural India, this could mean children who work in brick kilns, surgarcane factories, cotton mills and such. The act says these 25% will have to be picked up from the school's neighbourhood. But some schools claim they have none, she adds. 

Solution 2 : ADVOCACY REQUIRED 

It's great that schools will now admit poorer kids, but do their families know that, asks Jain. "The government should first carry out an awareness drive among the underprivileged about this," he says. 

"We need to make sure the act benefits the people it's supposed to." Jain suggests that the education ministry start small - by including 5-10 % of less privileged children in the first year, rather than 25%, and gradually increase it as the schools step up to provide for them. The lack of clear guidelines, activists fear, can lead to schools deferring implementation of the act or even using the loopholes to get out of it.


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/education/what-are-the-challenges-possible-solutions-in-the-implemention-of-rte-act/articleshow/12697894.cms?curpg=1

Activists laud RTE ruling, want state to monitor implementation

Samarpita Banerjee : Tue Apr 17 2012, 03:17 hrs

With the aim of propagating social inclusiveness, the Supreme Court last week gave the landmark decision of upholding the constitutional validity of the Right to Education. While hundreds of schools across the city lauded court’s decision saying it was their moral responsibility to ensure every child get education, activists expressed concern about the implementation of the law.

“Only time will tell how the schools go about implementing the Supreme Court ruling. Private schools will certainly look for ways to increase their revenue since their income from fees of these students will be affected,” said Jayshree Marale, a retired principal of a civic school.

Marale said it is now certain that private schools will resort to increasing fees. “Here the role of the state government will be very crucial. The state government has to ensure that schools do not arbitrarily increase their fees. Schools like the one in the city that refused to reduce fees despite protest from parents should be dealt with sternly,” she said. “There will be some schools providing excuses like non-availability of poor students seeking admission in their institute. All these should not be tolerated,” she added.

According to the judgment, all private unaided schools across the country will have to reserve 25 per cent of their seats for students from economically and socially weaker sections staying in the vicinity of the school.

The judgment said, “The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, is constitutionally valid and shall apply to a school established, owned, or controlled by the appropriate Government or local authority; an aided school including aided minority school (s) receiving aid or grants to meet whole or part of its expenses from the appropriate Government or local authority for a school belonging to specified category and an unaided non-minority school not receiving any kind of aid or grants to meet its expenses from the appropriate Government or the local authority.”

The court also made it clear that the unaided minority schools will not need to follow this directive. The decision was taken by a bench comprising Chief Justice SH Kapadia and justice KS Radhakrishnan and justice Swantanter Kumar. The government had first introduced the law in April 2010. However, at that time many schools had protested against it saying that a law like this would be unfair for the remaining 75 per cent because they would need to increase their fees to meet the growing expenses.

However, while declaring its decision, the court said that administering primary education to such children should be seen as a charitable activity and a student from an economically weak background should not be denied admission on the grounds of financial difficulty.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/activists-laud-rte-ruling-want-state-to-monitor-implementation/937759/0

Gujarat high court lets off 'land grabber' wrongly branded 'dangerous person'

Apr 15, 2012, 03.28AM IST TNN

AHMEDABAD: A single-judge bench of the Gujarat high court cancelled Ahmedabad district collector's order to detain a person under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) saying that Shantilal Koli Patel cannot be considered a 'dangerous person' for just having few FIRs against him in civil disputes.
However, the division bench has set aside the judgment and asked the single-judge bench to hear the case again because the ground for seeking Patel's detention was not that he was a 'dangerous person', but because he is dubbed a 'land grabber'.
Last year, the district collector passed an order for detaining Patel under section 2(h) of PASA by terming him a land grabber. Patel moved the HC and justice Z K Saiyed heard his petition. Patel's lawyer contended that complaints lodged against his client were in connection with property disputes, which were purely personal in nature. There were no allegations against him that he was a threat to law and order. Hence he could not be described as 'dangerous person', the lawyer said.
The judge too perused documents and concluded that the offences filed against Patel were not enough to describe him as dangerous person for society. The HC quashed the collector's order on October 14 last year.
The state government challenged this before a division bench and submitted that the authority wanted to detain Patel, for he was a land usurper. The division bench of justices V M Sahai and A J Desai went through documents again and found that the entire case was proceeded earlier on the false premise, and a false order came to be passed by the HC.
Asking the single-judge bench to hear the case again, the division bench noticed, "In our opinion, the entire case was proceeded before the single judge on a wrong footing and on non-existent grounds and, therefore, the judgment is required to be set aside in view of the aforesaid factual aspect."