THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT

All children (between 6 and 14 years) shall have the right to free and compulsory elementary education at a neighbourhood school.

A REVIEW OF SOME MAJOR POLICIES UNDER THE ACT:

1 25% quota: The RTE mandates that all schools — other than minority unaided schools — must reserve 25% of their seats for students from the economically backward classes.

The progress: A handful of schools in the city managed to implement the policy successfully. Many schools did not get enough — or any — applicants. Several of the city’s top schools were exempt from the clause as they were all minority schools.

2 Nofail policy: In May 2010, the government said schools would have to promote all students between Classes 1 and 8.

The progress: Some parents and educationists decried the move saying it would cause students to not take studies seriously till Class 9, and later cause stress when exams were introduced. Others, however, hailed it. The policy has been implemented in all city schools.

3 No screening during admissions: 

No child or parent can be profiled, interviewed or screened in any way. The progress: Parents welcomed the order, but activists and non-profit groups say the schools still apply some sort of screening process when admitting children. Schools claim they have implemented the policy.

4 SSA initiatives: The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the government’s main vehicle for delivering education at the primary level, has already introduced pilot projects in the past year.

The progress: To address the Act’s stipulated 1:30 teacher: student ratio, the Abhiyan has added 15,000 teaching posts and 12,000 headmasters posts.

5. Continuous comprehensive evaluation: To make schooling more “child-centric”, the state did away with unit tests and brought in a system of year-round evaluation.

The progress: Children are pleased, but parents are not convinced and teachers are feeling the work pressure.