Education as fundamental right soon?

Cabinet Takes Up Bill Promising Free Edu In 6-14 Age Group Today

Akshaya Mukul & Mahendra Kumar Singh | TNN

New Delhi: After a wait for four years, and after a lot of dithering and resistance from finance and law ministries, the Union Cabinet on Friday will finally take up for consideration the Right to Education Bill, promising free and compulsory education to children in the age group of 6-14, by making it a fundamental right.

The proposed enabling legislation, first mooted by the Kothari Commission in 1964 and passionately argued for by former education minister M C Chagla later, would come before the cabinet six years after the 86th Constitutional Amendment making free and compulsory education a fundamental right. Earlier it was part of Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution. The proposed bill is expected to be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament and is unlikely to meet any resistance since both NDA and Left have been demanding this legislation. The Constitutional amendment was done during the NDA regime but it would be notified only after the enabling bill becomes a law.

The right to education will cost the exchequer Rs 12,000 crore a year, and even unaided schools would not be outside its ambit since 25% of seats would have to be reserved by them for poor children in the neighbourhood. The Centre would reimburse the cost to these schools. The legislation has host of features that stresses not only on reaching out to every child in the 6- 14 age group but also on quality and accountability of the state and education system.

To ensure the law gets effectively implemented, the bill has provisions prohibiting teachers from undertaking tuitions as well as not letting them being used for non-educational purposes. The bill provides for school management committee in all government and aided schools. It would monitor and oversee the working of the school, manage its assets and ensure quality. There is also a provision that teacher vacancy should never exceed 10% of the strength. To monitor the law implementation, the bill proposes a National Commission for Elementary Education.

TIMES VIEW
This is a cause very dear to us. On July 6, we launched the Teach India campaign to make our little contribution towards education for all. Now the government is set to give the movement a huge boost by making education a fundamental right. A lot of time has been lost—for 44 years we’ve toyed with the idea but just not moved ahead. There is no time to lose. It’s an idea whose time has come.