Civil society organisations (CSOs) have urged the State Government to reopen the Government schools immediately which were ordered to be closed due to low student attendance, stating that the decision is a violation of children’s right to education as the RTE Act.
They also urged that a co-ordination must exist between the Government and the NGOs to achieve the agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4), in a workshop organised by Sustainability Foundation and National Coalition for Education, New Delhi, here.
The school closure decision of the State Government, especially in the tribal areas, will lead to forced migration and child labour in those areas. There are already more than 10 lakhs child labourers in the State, they said.
However, this requires resources and dialogue between policy-makers, practitioners and civil society so that inclusive and quality education for all children can be achieved in a time bound manner, said Sustainability Foundation founder Naba Kishor Pujari.
All India Primary Teacher’s Federation president Rampal Singh said the Right to Education (RTE) Act calls for equal opportunities in education for children.
The consultation did a broad-brush overview of the State Government’s initiative measures on various aspects to meet the demand for achieving SDGs 4 and how other actors can contribute to that development.
Among others, national convener of NCE India Dr Ramakant Rai, executive director Noopur, member of Sustainability Foundation Dr Subhashree Das, Dr Smarita Pradhan and Dr Prashant Acharya spoke.
