right to education act & homeschooling - a perspective by navin pangti

Right to Free And Compulsory Education Act 2009 & Homeschooling | A Presentation by Navin Pangti
Right to Free
And Compulsory
Education Act
2009
&
Homeschooling
A presentation by
Navin Pangti

What is RTE?

Right to Free And Compulsory Education Act 2009
It is a RIGHT
It is FREE
It is COMPULSORY
It is about EDUCATION

It is a RIGHT
It is FREE
It is COMPULSORY
A legally guaranteed power to a citizen. One
of the seven Fundamental Rights

It is a RIGHT
It is FREE
It is COMPULSORY
No child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges
or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing
and completing elementary education. (Section 3.2)
No direct (school fees) or indirect cost (uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meals,
transportation) to obtain elementary education of specified standard, subscribing to
norms of school infrastructure, hours of instructional time and days of school functioning,
pupil teacher ratios and teacher quality.

It is a RIGHT
It is FREE
It is COMPULSORY
What?

It is a RIGHT
It is FREE
It is COMPULSORY
Chapter III, point 8
Explanation: The term "compulsory
education" means obligation of the
appropriate government to
(i) provide free elementary education
to every child of the age of six to
fourteen years; and
(ii) ensure compulsory admission,
attendance and completion of
elementary education by every child
of the age of six to fourteen years;
A guarantee of access!

It is a RIGHT
It is FREE
It is COMPULSORY
Chapter III, point 8
Explanation: The term "compulsory
education" means obligation of the
appropriate government to
(i) provide free elementary education
to every child of the age of six to
fourteen years; and
(ii) ensure compulsory admission,
attendance and completion of
elementary education by every child
of the age of six to fourteen years;
It is entirely the obligation of the State to provide free elementary education to every
child in the 6-14 years age group and ensure not just admission, but attendance and
completion of the elementary cycle of schooling as well.
Source : National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

NCPCR on ‘compulsory’ school
Is there any compulsion on the parents as well
to send their children to school?
The law makes it clear that the compulsion is on the state and not on the parents to ensure
completion of the elementary cycle of schooling. It says that it is the duty of every parent to
admit their children in a neighbourhood school, but the responsibility of the government to ensure
quality education and the retention and completion of elementary education by child in school.
There are no penalties on parents
for not sending their children to school.
Source: FAQs of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

It is a RIGHT
It is FREE
It is COMPULSORY
It is about EDUCATION Formal Schooling
Education = school?

Understanding RTE further…
• An obligation of the state to ensure universal access to education to all
children between 6 to 14
• Universal access to education means easily and free access to
neighborhood schools of specified standards

Specified standards means…
• Pupil Teacher Ratio of 30:1
• Minimum instructional hours of 4/day (4.5 for Upper primary)
• Minimum working days of 200/annum (220 for Upper primary)
• Teacher vacancies not to exceed 10% of the sanctioned strength
• All schools to have teaching & learning materials, library and play & sports
equipment
• School buildings to be fit for all weather conditions, have barrier-free
access, have boundary wall, one classroom for every teacher, separate room
for head teacher, separate toilets, safe drinking water, kitchen for mid-day
meal and playground

Easy and free access means…
• Neighbourhood school should be within 1 km range for children in class 1
to 5. This range is 3 kms for children in class 6 to 8
• No capitation can be charged by any school, government or private
• Prohibition on use of any screening procedures for admissions
• No child can be refused admission in school, anytime of the year. Even
without a transfer certificate. And even if the child has never attended
school before
• Child has to be enrolled in a class ‘appropriate to his/her age’
• It the responsibility of the government/school to provide the child with
'special training' to enable him/her to come up to his/her age appropriate
class, if the child is not able to cope up with studies due to delayed
enrolment

And there is more…
• All private schools have to admit at least 25% children from disadvantaged
and weaker sections of society, without charging any fees
• A child cannot be failed or expelled from any class till he/she completes 8
years of schooling
• Teachers are prohibited by the Act to give private tuitions or private
teaching activity
• No school other than a wholly government school can function without
recognition after the commencement of the Act

Role of Central Government
• Develop a National Curriculum Framework with the help of an appointed
Academic Authority
• Develop and enforce standards of teacher qualification and training
• Provide technical and financial support and resources to the State
governments for innovation, research, planning and capacity building

Role of State Government
• Provide free and compulsory elementary education to all children
• Ensure availability of a neighbourhood school of requisite standard
• Ensure quality education conforming to standards specified in the Schedule
of the Act
• Ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education for
all
• Prevent discrimination against any child on any grounds

Maintenance of records of children by local
authority for the purposes of clause (d) of section 9
Class in which the child is studying (for children
between age 6-14), and if education is discontinued
in the territorial jurisdiction of the Local Authority,
the cause of such discontinuance;
Role of Local Authority
• Maintain records of all children up to the age of 14 years
• Ensure admission of all children, including migrant children
• Ensure that no child is discriminated against
• Decide the academic calendar
• Monitor functioning of schools in its jurisdiction

The Genesis of RTE
Children's Bill of Rights
Rights and responsibilities are enshrined in the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child, 1989. It contains all the rights which children
have all over the world. Government of India signed this document in 1992.
First legally binding international instrument
The universal declaration of Human Rights
This led to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989
because a need was felt to discuss the rights of children independently

Children’s Bill of Rights and family
• Family is the fundamental group of society
• Family is the natural environment for the growth and well-being of its
members, particularly children
• Parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary
responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best
interests of the child will be their basic concern
• Every child has the Right to a good education, and everyone has the
Responsibility to encourage all children to go to school

Children’s Bill of Rights and state obligations
• States are obliged to support and respect parents' primary responsibility for
providing care and guidance for their children
• States are also obliged to prevent children from being separated from their
families unless the separation is necessary for the child's best interests
• States shall respect the rights and duties of the parents to provide direction
to the child in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with
the evolving capacities of the child
• If the laws of a particular country protects children better than the articles
of the Convention, then those laws should override the Convention

Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Article 26
• Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the
elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally
available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis
of merit.
• Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and
friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further
the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
• Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that
shall be given to their children.

Easier said than doneRTE
Lack of availability of quality human resources
60 per cent of all primary school in the country fail to meet the teacher pupil ratio
Lack of government funds plus discrepancy is investments per child
Lakhs of children out of school (estimated to be between 30 to 80 lakh). Government's estimate say
1.2 crore (12 million) child labourers while children's rights activists put it it at 6 crore (60 million)
Progressive movement of children from government schools to private schools
High school dropout rates in case of children belonging to minority communities, dalits etc.
35% of children with disabilities are estimated to be out-of-school.
Provisioning RTE for children with disabilities
Implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system
Initiation of processes leading to education in the mother tongue

Severity of challengeRTE @Delhi
2.42 lakh children out of school
Over 6000 posts of teachers lying vacant
84.22% primary and 50.20% upper primary schools do not meet the pupil teacher ratio requirment
Nearly 1% schools are single teacher schools
A survey of 207 schools shows that only 4.83% schools had potable water facility
The survey also shows that only 4.83% schools had potable water facility
The survey also shows that only 21.25 % of schools have trained teachers to work with children with
special needs (Estimated population of over two lakh children)

So what does this mean to us
THE HOMESCHOOLERS!
RTE is about the obligations of the state and not the parent
Not sending a child to school is not unlawful. Now providing access to 'quality' school is!
RTE’s concern is children who are not getting an opportunity to attend school
Government has more critical issues to handle than homeschoolers
There is no penal action for not sending a child to school
Frankly speaking, RTE is completely silent on homeschooling

So what does this mean to us
THE HOMESCHOOLERS!
RTE is completely silent on homeschooling
Is homeschooling legal? Is homeschooling illegal?
?

And everything in between
is a matter of interpretation!
Homeschooling is not legal
But it is not illegal either

How can homeschooling become legal?
• Redefining ‘education’ so that it is not solely about ‘formal schooling’
• Because schooling is not a synonym of education. Schooling is just one form of
education, a much used form, though it seems to have lost its purpose
• Establish ‘parental right’ an override to the act
• Because that’s what the international agreements are all about though this is an
issue when it comes to developing countries where ‘schooling’ is seen as a tool of
economic and social liberation
• Offer open schooling as an option for elementary education
• Because ‘open’ is multi-dimensional and serves a wider range of needs. It will also
assist the government in meeting the challenges of the RTE
• The main problem area maybe the CCE system (Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation) which the government is anyway struggling with, and may keep doing
so for a long time to come

Risks and benefits of being legal
• We may have ‘sarkari’ guidelines on homeschooling
• We may have a nodal agency to maintain records of homeschoolers
• We could get ID cards for our children
• Our children could participate in all events, at all levels
• Boards like CBSE, ICSE would allow 'private' candidates. Or NIOS
would get same support and gain same respectability as the CBSE
• Embassies would not ask us to produce an NOC from school for
taking kids for holidays
• This conference could be funded by MHRD!

Bon Voyage!
…for a journey we would
anyways undertake,
legal or illegal!
Thank you!

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