In order to amplify the discussion on the diverse facets of the RTE Act, UNICEF organised a media roundtable in the capital recently. The meeting brought together representatives from the Government, multilateral agencies and academicians.
The discussion focused on three key facets — the increased institutional capacity to implement RTE, the extension of RTE to cover preschool and secondary education and the critical element of quality focusing on transition from right of access to education to right to learn. The panel discussion also pointed out several scalable examples in States and the way forward to meet challenges on ground. To tackle the gap in teacher recruitment and the large number of untrained teachers, Bihar has set an example by initiating training of untrained teachers through an innovative two-year distance education programme. In 27 districts across Bihar, 10,800 teachers have been trained and teacher attendance rates have gone up by an impressive 90 per cent. On the issue of extension of RTE to secondary education, experts shared their views on the need for inclusion of preschool and secondary education in the Act.