Page 28 - February EW 2024 PDF

Education News

another subject that is not offered in which is empowered
rural schools and colleges, at least to issue it “subject to
not on the scale it should be,” writes such conditions as may
Madhav Chavan, president of the be prescribed”. BMC
Pratham Education Foundation. has prescribed that it
Nevertheless digital competence should be renewed ev-
is not an adequate substitute for ery three years.
conventional primary education, Although the RTE
especially basic reading and nu- Act mandates that rec-
meracy skills. ASER 2023’s revela- ognition should be giv-
tion that more than 25 percent in the en for five years, state
14-18 age group can’t read a simple government educracies
class II textbook fluently and over 55 across the country are
percent can’t do simple math sums attempting to reduce it
after completing primary-secondary BMC headquarters: de-recognition drive to lesser periods for pri-
education is bad news for the Indian vate schools to inspect
economy which is clocking GDP ment blindspot is shared by India them for violation of fire safety regu-
growth of 7 percent per year. It Inc and the academy. As a result, lations, and playground provision.
means India Inc is certain to experi- there’s little pressure on government However, old schools, some of them
ence a severe shortage of sufficiently to rework budgets to release greater established over a century ago, are
literate and skilled employees in the resources for the education and unable to adhere to all the norms pre-
near future. Although self-learning health of the world’s largest child scribed by s.19 and the Schedule of the
through digital media can ameliorate and youth population. One of the RTE Act. Some of these norms include
the situation, it is no substitute for most damning conclusions of ASER a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:35, barrier-
sound primary (and pre-primary) 2023 is that only 5.6 percent of the free access and a one-acre playground
education. surveyed youth are enrolled in voca- — impossible in land starved Mumbai.
“One of the consequences of uni- tional training or related courses. S.19 of the RTE Act states that “no
versal elementary education is that it Autar Nehru (Delhi) school shall be established or recog-
raises student and family aspirations nised under s.18 unless it fulfills the
for an academic pathway leading to MAHARASHTRA norms and standards specified in the
white collar jobs. Not only does this Schedule”. For older schools, s.18 (2)
lead to cutthroat competition for get- Discriminatory provided a grace period of three years
ting into colleges, but it also closes for them to “take steps to fulfill such
young minds to the possibility of recognition norms and standards at its own ex-
exploring other livelihood pathways penses within a period of three years”.
for progress. The responsibility for esponding to a query filed un- That period has long since elapsed.
creating a new highway for transition der the Right to Information Institutions failing to obtain this
from school to work lies not only on RAct, the Brihanmumbai Mu- certificate can be derecognised and
the education system but also with nicipal Corporation (BMC) has dis- heavy fines to the tune of Rs.10,000
industry. Developing a variety of closed that 218 primary schools, in- per day and Rs.1 lakh penalty may be
effective paths to help young people cluding some highly reputed private imposed by BMC. Notably this provi-
find productive livelihoods so that primary schools in Mumbai — Anan- sion applies only to private schools, in-
they can live fruitful lives is one of dilal Podar, Santacruz; St. Michaels, cluding institutions affiliated with the
the major challenges facing India Mahim; St. Andrews Primary, Bandra; ICSE and CBSE exam boards. Hither-
today,” writes Rukmini Banerji, St. Aloysius, Santacruz; Alexandra to, they required a mere no-objection
CEO of Pratham in ASER 2023. Girls, Fort; Rustomjee Troopers (Da- certificate from the state education
But with government (Centre hisar), and Gloria Convent, Byculla — ministry.
plus states) expenditure for public have been operating for several years In defence of their alleged viola-
education stuck in the 3-4 percent of without renewal of their recognition tions, private school managements
GDP bog for the past seven decades certificates. query why these infrastructure and
as against the global average of 5 Under s.18 of the landmark Right other norms are not applicable to
percent and OECD countries’ 7-10 of Children to Free & Compulsory Ed- Mumbai’s 220 government schools.
percent, the future of India’s chil- ucation (RTE) Act, 2009, all schools “After the RTE Act became law in
dren — especially rural children — is are obliged to obtain a ‘recognition 2010, the state and municipal gov-
bleak. Unfortunately, this govern- certificate’ from the ‘local authority’, ernments have legislated fire safety

28 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2024