Note on RtE Compliances in Telangana

Background:

The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act 2002, which made elementary education a Fundamental Right- and its consequential legislation- the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, popularly called the Right to Education or RTE Act, represent a momentous step forward in the history of our republic. The Act was a ground breaking piece of legislation, the first in the world that puts the responsibility of ensuring student enrollment, attendance and completion of elementary education on the Government.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 was amended in 2012 and the RtE Amendment Act came into force with effect from 1st August 2012. The Amendment act interalia provides for (i) inclusion of children with disability as contained in the Persons with Disabilities Act 2005 and the National Trust Act under the purview of RtE Act providing them free and compulsory education, and providing option for home-based education for children with severe disability (ii) Protection of the rights of minorities provided under Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution while implementing RtE Act (iii) exemption of Madrasas, Vedic Pathasalas and educational institutions imparting religious instruction from the provisions of the RtE Act.

The cornerstone of Right to Education is provision of free and compulsory primary education, though the aim is also to provide increasing access to learning opportunities at secondary, technical and higher levels. It was envisaged that under the RTE Act, teaching and learning processes would be stress-free. A programme for curricular reform was also envisaged to provide for a child friendly learning system, which is at once relevant and empowering.

April 2016 marks six years of the implementation of RTE Act and it is time to take stock of the status of its implementation. An audit is therefore appropriate, particularly to locate deficiencies that exist, and chart out a course for the future.

RtE Compliances-National scenario:

In the last six years, the Right to Education Act has shown promising developments across the country. The government’s budget for the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan, the main vehicle for the Act’s implementation, has increased substantially from Rs. 12,825 crores in 2009-10 to Rs 22,500 crore in 2016-17. Some 3.5 lakh schools have been opened in the last decade and 99% of India’s rural population now has a primary school within a one kilometre radius.

In spite of this, it is noticed that, number of children still remain out of the school and those who are in school face difficulties in learning and 40% children drop out schools before completion of the elementary cycle.

There are many challenges are prevailing in the States for effective implementation of RtE Act 2009.
Many of the schools are unable to provide desired standards to the children.
Government’s agenda is confined to only enrolments-no steps for retention and quality learning
RtE is not thinking beyond compulsory education –forgot the quality concerns
Lacks quality education in government schools- children are being denied their right.
Still conventional teaching and not addressing diverse background of the children
Corporal punishments are prevailing in schools
Not imparting appropriate skills to Teachers for addressing children from diverse background-no inclusion in class rooms and cadres
No mechanism for handling multi grade and multi-level and multi lingual education in tribal hamlets
No adequate infrastructure including compound walls, playground, play materials, separate toilets for girls and safe drinking water.

States Scenario:

Looking at the status of RtE implementation in Telangana State: Government of Telangana has presented a white paper in the assembly and factored all achievements in the State and discussed about some of remedial measures for strengthening education system in the State. Their agenda is to bring all education institutions to a common umbrella with a title of KG to PG. But, the new Government is not considering the overall spirit of the Act and not looking at the benefits of rural poor children by taking the view point of 25% seats in private schools and its consequences on government schools. It is noticed that, government is totally ignoring the key provisions of RtE Act 2009 for the children from entitlements and providing quality education for all.

Facts in Telangana:
Meeting the RtE Norm of Student Teacher Ratio which is mentioned in Act including 1:30 for Primary, 1:35 for UPS & 1:40 for High Schools-but not the fact, there are 11000 schools are multi-grade teaching- but DISE data is showing that, there 12,178 schools are having strength of below 60 students and it is mentioned that, Pupil Teacher Ratio in Primary schools are: 1:24 and Upper Primary schools: 1:20 and High Schools: 1:21
The enrolment ratio in government and private schools: 27.93 lakh in government schools and around 33 Lakh in private schools during 2015-16.

It is found that, Drinking water is available in 75% schools, Electricity is available in 90% schools, Compound wall is having in 60% schools, Kitchen shed is available in 56% and Play Ground is available in 54%- but no adequate water supply in the schools and no running water in toilets.

More than 600 schools in the state are run by single teachers.
In the year 2014-15 enrollment of children is decreased by 2,00,000 in government schools.
0” Enrollment in 456 schools
1-10 Children: 1021, 11-20: 2774 & 21—40: 6980, 41-60: 2273, 61-80: 2018, 81-100: 1128 & More than 100 children: 3122
More than 2000 Government Schools are planned close or merge
There are 61558 Children with Special Needs (CWSN) are enrolled out of 1,32,710. (46%)

Other details compiled from Medea source:
NO toilets for boys: 5742
No toilets for girls : 2116
NO toilets in schools: 6685
NO drinking water facility: 2800
No Electricity 3181
Teacher position is vacant: 17702
Dropout scenario (DISE 2014-15)

Telangana
Grade	Boys	Girls	Total
I-VIII (All)	32.10	30.53	31.34
SC	31.07	29.82	30.46
ST	47.60	50.81	49.17
I –X
All	38.85	36.41	`37.66
SC	41.64	38.49	40.09
ST	61.26	63.88	62.54

A study done by the Education department in 2014:

Study was conducted in 100 Schools in FIVE districts including Hyderabad, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar and Medak districts.
Major challenges are:

45% of the children from VI-X are unable to read and write in Telugu subject
50% children are not able to do simple mathematics
90% Teachers are doesn’t have Lesson Plans and Teacher dairy
Assessment and evaluation (CCE) processes are became only mechanical in most of the schools
Shared Teacher Absenteeism, no supervisory mechanisms and community linkages
Parents are looking more infrastructure and English Medium

Major challenges in the state:
Poor learning standards among children/child centered pedagogy
No major focus on Early Child Education
High dropout rate in tribal children
Partial partition of communities in school management
No correlation between school-community, Anganwadi-school-community

Focus to be given to:
Pre-school Education and linkage between primary education
RtE Act should provisioned from Age 3 years to 18 years
Recruitment of Special Educators for educating Children with Special Needs
Tailor made curriculum for children with special needs and need to focus on CWSN in schools with adequate facilities
Bearer friendly environment in all schools
Special grant allocations and commitment for effective implementation of RtE
10% increase of Budget in GDP
Special focus on improving learning standards among the children
Teacher Capacities on Child Friendly Pedagogy
Special protection mechanism for girls in KGBVs by recruiting Female Teachers and support staff
Focus to be given on Inclusion in Education for suiting the needs of children from DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS