CHENNAI: The Right of a Child to Education is one of the Directive Principals of the Indian Constitution and it has taken 60 years for the Right to Education Act to be passed and hailed as one of the great achievements of UPA 2. But it is also a fact that education is a joint Centre-State subjects under the Constitution and so all the states have the freedom to follow their own educational system and so we have State and Central boards.It is illuminating to look at the numbers involved (rounded off for convenience) quoted from a CLSA Asia Pacific and Kaizen Educational report. There are approximately 340 million children in the 4-19 age group and about 1 million schools in the country. Ninety per cent are publicly-run schools catering to 60 per cent of the student base while the balance 40 per cent study in the 7 per cent of privately-run schools. This demonstrates that almost half the parents in the country can afford to pay private fees/ prefer private schools as they feel they get better value and are willing to pay for it.Inefficiency of the public education system is further demonstrated by the 40 per cent dropout rate resulting in net enrolment of 37 per cent! There are almost 140 million children out of the school system. The answer is not to disable the successful part of the system but to make every effort to improve the inefficient portion.Most of the opposition to the Right to Education Act (RTE) has been focused on the 25 per cent free education for deprived students, but look at the less publicised portions of the Act.There shall be no corporal punishment. A good thing but already established by custom, court rulings and State Education Departments.Tuition is outlawed. This is one of the most impractical sections. Considering the intense competition for college admissions (witness Delhi University 100 per cent cutoff this year) legal or illegal, parents are going to tutor their children.25 per cent seats for disadvantaged section of society. Good idea but badly implemented. These are seats only from Classes 1 -8. Why not from LKG to 10 ? Many schools do their initial admission at LKG and will have to make adjustments at Class 1. Children unable to speak the medium of instruction will be proficient by Class 1. A class can proceed at the speed of the slowest child. Should the more proficient be penalised? What about children who are doing well in school. Why should they be made to leave at Class 8?No testing and no failing. All must be passed from year to year irrespective of their comprehension or ability. No greater folly can be contemplated in the effort to maintain the reputation and standards of a school.■ Governments will pay only such fees as will be incurred in a government school for these children. Education is a resource-intensive model. It is next to impossible to get entitled payments from government departments. Fees will be levied on 75 per cent to subsidise the 25 per cent.The vast majority of such disadvantaged children live in rural and semi-urban areas while the vast majority of private schools are located in urban areas. It is for the government to start schools in such areas. There is an unfortunate tendency of the central government to behave as if India is the National Capital Region and the National Capital Region is India and consultations are held only with National Capital Region school principals and school managements and ignore the rest of the country like an unwanted appendage.Now the Government has come up with proposals for public-private partnerships in starting many thousands of new schools which will be allowed to charge fees as they desire. The wheel has come full circle and we are back where we started.The Government has been collecting an education cess of 2 per cent on every transaction for the last five years or so. This surely significant amount should be used to make a herculean effort involving private schools to improve the dismal condition of most government schools.
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