The right to free and compulsory Education Act has been hailed as revolutionary. But could you legislate for a revolution?
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Nearly 70 per cent of the sons of Valmikis, sanitation workers, opt for their father's profession.u00a0Can the Act help them? The Act, although no panacea, will certainly help in capacity building for education. It may kick-start, an educational activism, which will inspire many '100 quarters' across the nation. I see the hope in Jay Prakash, a Valmiki working with MCD, and cleaning Firoz Shah Kotla during IPL matches. He is determined to continue the studies of his two children by timely paying the fee.
People's will and not legislations bring about a revolution. The government has decided to walk two steps towards people; people must reciprocate by walking two steps.
The Act is a Law applicable to 'every child from the age of sixteen to fourteen' and not a scheme for children hailing from poor, backward and weaker sections. If making education (to be distinguished from literacy and innumeracy) universal is the objective, why then is the Act silent about the mental preparation of a child prior to six years and scope after 14 years (which is equivalent to class seven). Thus for the Act to be a tool of empowerment the education must be compatible to jobs and the higher education market. Another major lacuna in the Act is that it does not broach the issue of child labour. There were 12 million child labourers between the age of 5 and 14 in India as per the 2001 Census. How could the Act bypass them?
Rumblings about the Act are already becoming audible. The Apex Court was obliged to issue a notice to the government after the 'Society for Unaided Schools of Rajasthan' adduced several technical glitches. How, for instance, will you reconcile the Clause 16 of the statute ufffd no child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class or expelled from the school till the completion of education - with the prevalent system where promotion depends upon success in examination.
This system had accompanied the introduction of modern education in India in 19th century. Does the Act then envisage setting up two standards and segregate some children into ghettos of inferiority?
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