Non-Negotiable Elements (i.e. our bottom-line) in Draft RTE Bill 2008*
(As per the consensus arrived at the Convention)
. The RTE Bill to be rooted in the framework of the COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM (CSS) FOUNDED ON NEIGHBOURHOOD SCHOOLS which will apply to all schools, including private unaided and aided schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, the 6,000 Model Schools proposed in the XI Plan and all other special category schools operated by the Central and state/ UT governments. There will be no exceptions to this basic framework.
· The above framework will cover all schools from pre-primary stage upwards to Plus Two stage i.e. Class XII.
· This means that it will be mandatory for all schools to admit and provide education of equitable quality to all children residing within the neighbourhood, as specified by the prescribed authority, without any admission test, screening or parental interaction whatsoever – admission and receiving education of equitable quality in the neighbourhood school shall be a Fundamental Right of the child.
· The Neighbourhood of each school shall be delineated by the prescribed authority under the Act such as to optimize the socio-cultural diversity of the children who shall study and socialize together.
. Education to be COMPLETELY FREE for all children from pre-primary stage (of two years) to Class XII. Apart from free tuition, other requirements like uniforms, text books, teaching aids, tests and examinations and mid-day meals shall also be free of cost – for rich and poor alike. Further, the children shall not be liable to pay any charges whatsoever for facilities such as games, performing or fine arts, laboratories, library, computers & ICT and extra- or co-curricular activities (field trips, picnics etc.). No school shall be permitted to charge capitation fees and accept donations or contributions to maintenance or any other kind of funds – whether announced at the time of admissions or otherwise. For children of families below poverty line, there shall be adequate provision for payment of OPPORTUNITY COST (may be in the form of scholarships or stipends) to their parents or guardians for which some rational principles and practicable modalities may be evolved.
· No school shall have NORMS AND STANDARDS relating to infrastructure, teachers, pupil:teacher and classroom:teacher ratios, curriculum and teaching quality lower than that of the KENDRIYA VIDYALAYAS. No more than a five-year frame to be given to achieve this goal.
· Teacher qualifications and pre-service training as per NCTE norms. All teachers to be regular teachers with salaries and other service conditions as per Fifth Pay Commission. All other categories of teachers such as para-teachers and guest teachers to be done away with forthwith.
· No teacher to be deployed on NON-TEACHING DUTIES, INCLUDING THOSE PERTAINING TO ELECTIONS OR CENSUS, the only exception being disaster-relief duties, applicable in all schools (including private unaided schools) without any discrimination whatsoever.
· A COMMON LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICY to be followed in all categories of schools, while respecting Article 350A in case of “children belonging to linguistic minority groups.” Mother Tongue in pre-primary and early primary years (i.e. until Class II or III) and the State/ UT language from then onwards to Class XII to be the medium of education in all schools, including the private unaided schools. English of equitable quality to be introduced as a subject from Class III or IV onwards. From Class VI onwards, the third language to be introduced as a subject in the Hindi- and Non-Hindi-speaking states/ UTs as per the principles of the Three-Language Formula specified by 1986 policy and the Kothari Commission.
· ALL SCHOOLS WITHIN A STATE/ UT TO BE AFFILIATED TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION/ EXAMINATION. While following the National Curriculum Framework and its Core Curriculum, broadly along the lines of the 1986 policy, there must be ample provision for essential flexibility, diversity, innovation and creativity (which is lacking in the prevailing system) at the level of a District, Development Block or a school cluster or, whenever justified, even an individual school.
· Prohibition on the sale, lease or rent of the immoveable assets of the government, local body and government-aided schools.
· Financial allocations: The CUMULATIVE GAP building up since Kothari Commission’s recommendations in 1966 to be filled up within the next five years, followed by maintenance of annual educational expenditure at the level of at least 6% of GDP.
· A FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM to be attached to the RTE Bill.
· Prohibition on making profits out of schools or related professions/ activities.
· No School Vouchers.
· No Public-Private Partnership in school education.
· No foreign Boards of Education/ Examination and other assessment agencies to be allowed to operate in India.
· No Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in school education.
· School Education (including pre-primary education) not to be offered to WTO.
Notes:
Pre-primary stage shall comprise at least two years and will be located in the school. The teachers for this crucial stage of child development must have received proper pre-service training in childhood-oriented pedagogy (see 1986 policy, Sections 5.1 to 5.4). Facilities for this sector of teacher education hardly exist. Therefore, a nine-year time frame for developing such facilities will have to be conceived. In the meantime, short-term certificate courses would have to be organized through DIETs in order to meet the crisis. The Draft RTE Bill 2008 has attempted to confuse the issue by falsely equating it with “ICDS or other government programmes.”
In the third ‘Non-Negotiable’ regarding neighbourhood schools, education of equitable quality has been specifically mentioned since the private school lobby is likely to circumvent the provision of neighbourhoodness by setting up parallel sections, branches in slums or villages or even “afternoon schools” for the underprivileged children in the name of giving them special attention by falsely claiming their “academic backwardness.”
Several well-meaning groups have pointed out that the concept of neighbourhood partly loses its relevance in view of the existing socio-cultural “ghettoisation” (e.g. dalit, tribal and muslim localities in both rural and urban areas). This “ghettoisation” is increasing due to rising socio-cultural and communal tensions. It is precisely due to this concern that optimization of “socio-cultural diversity of the children” by the prescribed authority during delineation of the school neighbourhood becomes a crucial element in the guidelines to be incorporated in the Act.
OPPORTUNITY COST is a well accepted economic concept in social theory of educational planning, considering the cost to the poor parents for withdrawing their children from child labour. To be sure, it is indirectly practiced in various States/ UTs by providing scholarships or stipends to SCs, STs and other under-privileged children at the elementary stage. This is the rationale for its inclusion as an essential element in FREE EDUCATION.
[I am stopping here due to other pre-occupations at the moment. I can continue these Notes provided I receive positive feedback regarding their usefulness in our public campaign.]
July 12, 2008
Bhopal
*Drafted by Prof. Anil Sadgopal at the request of the NCCRTECSS Convention. Feedback may be sent to the NCCRTECSS Secretariat at Bhubaneswar at righttoeducation@yahoo.co.in and anilsadgopal@yahoo.com.
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