Hopes of millions of underprivileged children in Karnataka, who have been waiting to avail the benefits of educational reforms under the landmark Right to Education (RTE) Act, seem to have been shattered.
Hopes of millions of underprivileged children in Karnataka, who have been waiting to avail the benefits of educational reforms under the landmark Right to Education (RTE) Act, seem to have been shattered.
Sources at the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Karnataka, said it was busy working on various aspects of the RTE Act to make it fit to be implemented in the next three years.
“The Act in its current form cannot be implemented in Karnataka. We are working on its various aspects to make it fit to be implemented in the next three years,” said a senior official of SSA.
The state is taking a long time to come up with draft rules on the RTE Act. The SSA, the nodal agency for implementation of the RTE Act, has been compiling the points and holding discussions with experts and activists in the education field to give finishing touches to the draft rules, since 2010.
The ministry of human resource and development has strictly instructed all states to implement the Act from this academic year itself. It was with much fanfare that the prime minister Manmohan Singh announced the RTE Act, guaranteeing education to all Indian children, from April 1, 2010.
Activists feel that the government is not bothered about the poor children of Karnataka. In fact, many activists have alleged that the government is delaying the entire process of implementation of the RTE Act, as they have succumbed to the pressure of the private school lobby. “The private school lobby is dead against 25% reservation of underprivileged children in all schools, as stated in the RTE Act. Delay in implementing the Act will only benefit the private schools,” said P Lakshapathy, a child rights activist.
The Act has advocated that all schools should set aside 25% of the seats for children from the neighbourhood — a euphemism for kids from underprivileged sections of the society.
“The state is clearly violating child rights by delaying the implementation of the RTE Act in the state,” said Nagasimha G Rao, another child rights activist.
The SSA was supposed to submit the final copy of the draft rules of the RTE Act to the primary and secondary education minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri by December, 2010. However, it was later postponed to January, and the uncertainty over its submission still continues.
Along with procedural delay in the implementation of the Act, experts say that there are several roadblocks before it is implemented. Sources at state education department have expressed doubts about the proper implementation of the Act this academic year, due to fund constraints. An official at the education department said that around `2,000 crore would be needed to implement the Act in Karnataka.
“It’s a huge amount. We don’t think such a huge amount would be available to us in near future,” said a senior official of the education department.
The central and state governments are fighting over the sharing of financial liabilities to implement the RTE Act. The Central government is pushing for a 65:35 sharing formula. However, Karnataka government is insisting that the Centre should shoulder a greater burden to implement the laws.
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