RTE floundering due to Centre’s selfishness
It had been suspected from the very beginning since the Congress-led UPA Government gave the right to education three years ago, that the regime's intention was more to reap political harvest than extend the benefits of primary learning to millions of students across the country that have been deprived of education for a variety of reasons. As things are unfolding now, the fear is turning into reality. The deadline of March 31 for meeting the norms stipulated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act has gone without any real progress made. The Centre and the States are still undecided on how to effectively implement the Act at the ground level. The States want more funds and autonomy, whereas the Centre wants to control the execution and allow no scope for the States to appropriate the political benefits that may accrue from the Act. The UPA regime's desire to exploit the move politically is in stark contrast to its failure to ensure effective enforcement of the provisions of the Act. (It must be admitted though that many of the provisions are neither rooted in reality nor do they have the potential to help the intended beneficiaries.) If the Union Government indeed is keen to make the Act work, it should allow State regimes to develop a mechanism to implement the provisions in their respective environment. But the Centre is not ready for that leeway; it wants the Act to be executed within the parameters of the Centrally-sponsored Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. This insistence has led to another problem; different States have different needs and those needs require custom-built solutions. But the Centrally-controlled scheme seeks to impose a common method on all States, which may be at variance with the specific requirements. The insistence of the Government to have its way is strange, since the enforcing authorities are the State administrations. The flawed arrangement is a recipe for certain disaster.
What further compounds the folly is the exclusion of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights from the process of implementation and monitoring of the Act. Besides being a specialised body that is responsible for ensuring that children's rights are taken care of in the country, the NCPCR is also meant to supervise the implementation of the RTE. Yet, reportedly, no member of this commission finds place in the scheme of things. The Centre has shown similar apathy in seeking a more active and participatory involvement of local organisations such as the panchayats and urban civic bodies in spreading the right to education. This is despite the fact that the panchayats and the urban civic corporations and councils will end up as key players in the implementation of the scheme. The Centre does not have all the time at its command to do the needful. As the recent Annual Status of Education Report showed, the quality of primary education across Government schools is declining perilously.