Fundamental Right For Education In India
This article is related to the education and freedom of education which is must for any person in India. It is related to the Indian Constitution which is the rule which governs India in a peaceful and democratic manner. The Fundamental Right in the Constitution voice for right to education to all and it is the duty of the state to see that this is being done in reality.
Introduction
In the chapter 3 of the Indian Constitution there is a section named as Fundamental Rights for the citizens of India. These rights are bestowed on the people of India for a happy and prosperous life without the interference of the other. Anyone found violating the Fundamental Rights is liable for punishment prescribed in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). There are Seven Fundamental Rights in total and out of these seven rights; the fifth right is-Cultural and Educational Right. This right preserves Right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice and to get education.Right to Education Act (RTE)
On the fourth day August 2009 there was a beginning of a new era and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) was passed in the Indian Parliament and was effective from First day of April 2010. This law was drafted for the benefit of the common people who are not able to afford education due to meager wages. This Act provided a liberty to the children from the age group for 6 to 14 to have free education as per the Article 21A. With this step India became the part of 135 nations which have made education a right for all.No matter that the Indian Constitution consisted the Fundamental Right as per the Article 21A but the need of amendment was much needed and thus RTE was constituted. The draft for this act was started in the year 2005 which was opposed by the oppositions on the point that 25% of reservation for the disadvantage children in private schools. This draft was prepared by the sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education. The Indian Law Commission had proposed 50% of reservation for the disadvantaged students to the private schools.
Need for privatization of Education
The need for this act was to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. It was perceived that this act will bring in the children from the weaker section to the private schools and thus they will be a part of good education which is only possible in the private schools.The drafting committee of this act was aware that the students from the weaker sections of the society or the poor families are not able to get good education in the government schools. Huge amount was allocated for this act amounting to Rs 171,000 crores or 1.71 trillion (US $38.2 billion) initially. This funding was shared on the ration of 65 to 35 between the center and the state, which was having special privilege for the north-eastern states to the ration of 90 to 10.
The problems in the RTE Act
In the mid of 2010 there was hue and cry over the estimated funds and the initially budget was increased to Rs. 231,000 crores. The center also increased its share from the ration of 65% to 68%, where as in some cases it was even increased to the ration of 70%. But the major problem was that the states never increased their respective budgets in for their share and eventually this act became only a paper document rather than an effective act. The private schools have not taken any care in regard to the act and till date there are rather no admissions in the private schools for the weaker section of the society.Control over the private institutions
The private schools are not paying any heed to the provisions which are given in the RTE Act. They are not taking any admissions and this was again talked about Kapil Sibal, only to woo the voters. In his tenure he has not been doing much for the active implementation of the RTE act.As the Ministry of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal has been just making promises to the common Indian but actually nothing has been done to really make this law an effective tool to provide good education to all the children of India.
No control over the government educational institutions. Being the minister of the concern ministry he has not being doing any work on the up gradation of the government run educational institutes. If this is being done then the quality of education can be increase and all the students will be at par in respect to the education.
The Private educational institutions
There are number of private education institutions who are flashing out huge amount of cash from the pockets of the parents of the students who are taking education in private institutes. There are number of heads which they have trickily designed to extract money. As per the rule the schools cannot charge money other than the tuition fee but this is not applicable on the private institutions that are having their own law and rules.At the time of admission there is huge amount is to be paid by the parents in order to get their children admitted to the private institute. These are the reasons why the parents who are from the weaker section are not able to get their children admitted to the private schools.
RTE for the hidden benefit to private institutes
The RTE act was made effective in the year 2010 but till the time I am penning this article I have seen that there is no implementation of this act. As per me this is a hidden benefit to the private educational institutes and to discontinue the government run educational institute and in the longer run this will widen the gap between the rich and the poor.The private institutes are not being controlled in any way and this is the most important thing which should be worked on. The private institutes are being run on their sweet will which is just being done to demoralize the people of the weaker section.
The teachers of the government schools are not going on their duties. It has been in some cases that the students have not seen their teachers for the whole academic session. Many times the students have raised their voice in this regard but no heed is being paid by the government. If the government effectively makes rules and regulation and controls the government run educational institutes then there is no need for RTE Act.