Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Implementing RTE Act – a challenge) that was published in Newsband

Implementing RTE Act – a challenge

When India enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, it was indeed a bold step. India’s determination to provide universal education by enacting this Act was appreciated by a big number of people.

But this egalitarian measure to empower disadvantaged children with a seat even in an unaided school - as affirmed recently by the Supreme Court - has upset some institutions that obviously identify themselves with the privileged classes. There were closures and protests.

A school in Bangalore began to adopt discrimination policy. It cut lock of hair to segregate under-privileged children from other children in the class. These children have not been entered in the regular attendance rolls either. The actions of the school deserve to be condemned and a full enquiry must be held into how and why it took such a cruel step. There are other institutions too which have publicly opposed the equity objectives of the RTE Act.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the new law guaranteeing elementary education a redemption of a pledge made to all children. The Bangalore incident makes it clear that laws alone are not enough, strong determination is essential to break barriers down. The RTE Act and associated rules specifically forbid any kind of segregation, physical punishment or mental harassment of children. A reading of the law, however, indicates that the penalty for violation is essentially confined to withdrawal of recognition. What happened in Bangalore is both physical punishment and mental harassment of children, who are likely to carry the scars long into their lives.

A provision for government takeover of institutions that refuse to reform themselves is necessary. That’s how the government can make the RTE Act work. It is obvious that the culture of elitism is promoted by many unaided schools. India corrected a historic injustice towards its children by making education a fundamental right. It should not hesitate to show political will to enforce this right in the face of bigoted resistance.

What the school in Bangalore did was not right. We cannot forget we are a country of laws, and there is a judicial procedure to be followed before damning any person or organization.

This incident only shows that some people do not like change. The RTE ACT is a right step in the right direction. In theory, Government schools, run with tax payer money, should cater to all sections of society including the financially weaker sections. But what about the private schools? Can RTE Act be applied in these schools? Is it possible that the private schools would willingly give up their right of admission so easily? The government should have an open mind on RTE implementation.