Engagement of contractual teachers in schools is an anti-human rights concept, said National RTE Forum convener Ambarish Rai while addressing the delegates at the third RTE stocktaking convention organised by the Odisha RTE Forum (ORF) here on Tuesday to take stock of the RTE compliance in the State and the major issues and challenges in this regard.
Rai said RTE advocates for engagement of regular teachers in schools, but most of the States including Odisha appoint thousands of teachers on contractual basis.
“The Governments should appoint permanent teachers for the sake of quality education in the schools,” he added.
In his address, noted linguist Padmashree Debi Prasanna Patnaik said that India has no language policy, as a result of which tribals are forced to accept other languages as medium of education at the primary level. He expressed grave concern over the acute shortage of teachers in Odisha. Even after five years of implementation of the RTE Act, Odisha RTE Forum convener Anil Pradhan said, the State has many lacunae as far as the status of implementation of the Act is concerned.
Representatives of various NGOs and social organisations and activists spoke about different issues such as out-of-school children and
special training, the question of inclusion, education of adivasis, dalits, Muslims, migrant children and children with special needs, role of SMC and local authority, grievance redressal mechanism, status of teachers and teacher education in the State.
At the end of the convention, Pradhan said, a set of recommendations would be submitted to the State Government requesting it for immediate implementation.