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Education News



         wake-up call to the state government   in-school children.        holds,  s.12  (1)  (c)  of  the  landmark
         to invest in education rather than   Evidently learning outcomes of the   Right of Children to Free & Compul-
         in handouts such as free electricity,   state’s politicians and establishment   sory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 pro-
         bus rides for women etc and to make   are not high either. They still prefer   vides a small window of opportunity
         teachers accountable for raising stu-  to distribute fish rather than teach the   for their children to study in private
         dents’ learning outcomes. This is a   state’s high-potential population how   schools where the quality of educa-
         serious matter which requires urgent   to fish.                   tion is far superior. Under s.12 (1) (c)
         government attention as high-quality   Reshma Ravishanker (Bengaluru)  non-minority private day schools are
         primary school education is the                                   obliged to reserve 25 percent capac-
         prerequisite for success in higher    MAHARASHTRA                 ity in class I for children from poor
         education and industry.”                                          households in their neighbourhood,
           Prof. B.S. Rishikesh, Head,    Dashed RTE admission             and retain them free-of-charge until
         Hub of Education, Law and Policy,                                 completion of class VIII.
         Azim Premji University, Bengaluru,   dreams                         Yet despite the RTE Act mandat-
         believes the Karnataka government                                 ing 25 percent reservation in pri-
         needs to switch focus from higher to      ith maharashtra (pop. 127   vate schools for EWS (economically
         foundational literacy and numeracy        million) experiencing con-  weaker students) children, admission
         (FLN) as some traditionally back- Wtinuous political turmoil —    processes for these children continue
         ward states have done to record   the state has been ruled by multiple   to be plagued by bureaucratic inef-
         improvement in ASER 2024.        governments, including the Maha Vi-  ficiency and legal hurdles. In Maha-
           “FLN learning levels in Karnataka   kas Aghadi, the BJP-backed Shiv Sena   rashtra, parents are obliged to await
         are disheartening. It’s shocking that   faction, and the current coalition, in   admission (by a lottery process) right
         a mere 34 percent of class V children   the past five years — its 65,639 public/  until the start of the new academic
         can read class II texts. This means   government schools are going from   year and uncertainty forces them to
         that even after five years of school-  bad to worse.              enroll their children in neighbouring
         ing, the majority of students in rural                                   fees-levying budget private
         Karnataka, irrespective of the type                                      schools (BPS).  Education ac-
         of school they are in — government                                       tivists warn that if the process
         or private — are unable to read. The                                     is not concluded by end-May,
         National Education Policy (NEP)                                          as mandated by law, thou-
         2020 clearly states that FLN should                                      sands of EWS children could
         be the prime focus of all states. Kar-                                   lose the chance of admission
         nataka needs to launch a statewide                                       into best neighbourhood pri-
         FLN mission with missionary zeal to                                      vate schools.
         ensure that children acquire founda-                                       “Every year, we hope for
         tional literacy and numeracy skills by                                   a smooth process, and every
         class III,” says Rishikesh.                                              year, we are disappointed,”
            uch sensible advice to invest in                                      says Nitin Dalvi, an educa-
         Sdeveloping human resources                                              tion activist and representa-
         from earliest age is likely to fall   EWS children: small opportunity window  tive of the Maharashtra State
         on deaf ears as the Congress state                                       Student Parents Teachers
         government has allocated 25 percent   According to the Annual Status of   Federation. “Parents wait until May
         of its annual revenue to fulfill its   Education Report (ASER) 2024 of the   for RTE admissions, but with no guar-
         handouts guarantees including 200   highly-respected Pratham Education   antee of selection, many are forced to
         units of free power for every ap-  Foundation released on January 28,   admit their children into a BPS.”
         plicant household, 10 kg rice per   42 percent of class V children in rural   With most private schools opposed
         person in below poverty line (BPL)   government schools can’t read class II   to “partial backdoor nationalization”
         households, free-of-charge travel   textbooks, and 76 percent can’t solve   despite the Supreme Court having
         for women in government buses,   simple division sums.            upheld s.12 (1) (c) while exempting
         Rs.2,000 per month for women       Therefore at this time every year   minority and boarding schools, every
         heads of family and Rs.3,000 for   there’s a huge rush in every household   year, thousands of RTE seats remain
         unemployed graduates. Against this   for admitting children into the state’s   vacant due to private school manage-
         Rs.53,674 crore outlay for freebies,   43,305 private schools. And because   ments delaying admissions, by raising
         only Rs.44,422 crore was allocated   private schools are unaffordable for   legal disputes on definitions of “neigh-
         for educating Karnataka’s 12 million   poorest, bottom-of-pyramid house-  bourhood”, “poor households”  and a

         18    EDUCATIONWORLD   FEBRUARY 2025
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