Looks are deceptive can well be true for Pali-Chimbai Municipal School in Bandra. Adopted by Aseema, an NGO, it ranks among most professional run civic schools in the city. Interestingly, this is also the only BMC school that has instituted a Parent-Teachers’ Association (PTA).

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The number of government primary schools with less than 15 students has increased to 253 from last year’s 210.

Officials at the directorate of education (DoE), however, say there are no plans to shut these schools.

“Even though they have few enrolments these schools will continue to function. We need schools to cater to students in the locality,” Anil Powar, deputy director of education told TOI on Wednesday.

It may be recalled that the DoE had a different stand on the issue in 2008. It had then sought to send students from low-enrolment schools to schools with better enrolments. The move was scrapped following stiff opposition from parent teacher associations. The PTAs had pointed out that students would have to travel longer distances to reach school.

Explaining the continued drop in numbers in government primary schools, Powar claimed, “The population in rural areas is dwindling on account of migration to urban areas for employment. ”

He added, “With better transportation facilities, parents who would otherwise not think of sending their children to urban schools are doing so. ”

Meanwhile, the number of government primary schools with less than 15 students has seen steadily increasing since the last two years. While such schools stood at 172 in 2008, last year, 210 schools reported low enrolments.

This year the number of such schools is up by 53. For the state, running schools with low student enrolments not only leads to a wastage of funds, but the quality of education in these institutes also suffers.

This is because the state is unable to provide additional teachers and other facilities. As per DoE regulations, only one teacher is provided for every 24 students. Since the introduction of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, however, para-teachers are being deployed at schools with low enrolments to raise the quality of teaching.

Meanwhile, statistics collected by the DoE show schools in rural areas have the most number of low enrolments

for this academic year. In the Sanguem taluka alone there are 44 such primary schools. The number of such schools in Ponda is 37, followed by Sattari (30), Pernem (27), Salcete (24), Bicholim (23) and Canacona (22). In Bardez 19 government primary schools have enrolments of less than 15 students, while the number in Tiswadi taluka is 14.

The number of government primary schools with low enrolments is relatively lesser in urban areas.

The Times of India, July 8, 2010

India’s historic right to education law has placed the future of the country’s Kendriya Vidyalayas and other central schools under a cloud of uncertainty, leaving the government divided on whether to retain their unique character.

Sections of the human resource development ministry want the current mandate of these schools to be wound up, while others argue that they must be allowed to continue, top government sources have told The Telegraph.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal is understood to be personally in favour of retaining the current mandate of these central schools, but a section of his ministry is against seeking exemptions for the institutions.

The debate on the future of these schools is a direct outcome of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, implemented from April 1 this year.

Section 13 of the act bars all schools from subjecting “the child or his or her parents or guardian to any screening procedure”. The section punishes those who infringe with a fine of Rs 25,000 for the first violation and Rs 50,000 per infringement subsequently.

The country’s central schools all currently violate this section — because they largely select students either through a national test or based on their parentage.

The over 1,000 central schools across the country represent India’s largest public school chain and were started to principally cater to the wards of central government employees in transferable postings.

Today, the central schools have a clear priority list — children of transferable central government employees get higher priority than state government counterparts who still rank higher than ordinary citizens.

The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV), nearly 600 across the country, were started in 1985 when P.V. Narasimha Rao was HRD minister, to provide meritorious students from rural backgrounds the best standards of schooling.

These are residential schools and each year conduct a national examination to select students.

The bar on any admission scrutiny under the act means the government will either need to seek exemption from the law for these central schools, or will have to end their current mandate.

Charu Sudan Kasturi, The Telegraph, 18 May 2010

NEW DELHI: Bowing to relentless protests from MPs, both ruling and Opposition, against the decision to scrap their quota of two admissions each in Kendriya Vidyalayas, HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said he had restored the quota.

However, Sibal said he would not use the quota himself both as MP and education minister. HRD minister has the discretionary quota of getting admission to 1,200 children. In effect, Sibal will not be making use of 1,202 seats. Sibal’s decision was greeted by MPs across party lines.

All along, Sibal had justified the decision to do away with MPs quota. His argument was that under the Right to Education Act, all schools, including KVs, will give 25% reservation to poor children in the neighbourhood. Even last week, during question hour in Rajya Sabha, Sibal had told MPs that they should be happy that instead of two admissions in KVs, now lakhs of poor children will get free admission in schools. But it did not convince MPs.

When Sibal took over last year, he found that his special dispensation quota of 1,200 seats had been exhausted by his predecessor Arjun Singh. Sibal was left with a quota of only 200 seats, a small figure compared to demands for admission from the office of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Considered one of the most successful schools in the country, the 981 KVs have 10.15 lakh children and 47,845 teachers. In case of admission, priority is given to children of transferable/non-transferable central government employees and those working in PSUs and institutes of higher learning run by the central government.

There is special provision for admission of grandchildren of MPs, grandchildren of serving and retired KVS employees, children of recipients of gallantry awards like Param Vir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra, Veer Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and President’s police medal.

The Times of India, 8 May 2010

“The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will begin running middle schools (standards V to VIII) with the implementation of the Right To Education (RTE) Act,” announced Delhi’s new Mayor, Prithvi Raj Sawhney on Friday.

Sawhney stated that, “The MCD had 400 middle schools and 11 secondary schools operating under it in the 1970s. But after a division, only primary schools are being run by the MCD and theDelhi state government is running the middle, secondary and higher secondary schools.”

He said that due to the implementation of the RTE Act, the MCD will now be allowed to run middle schools, as the Right of children to free and compulsory Education Act guarantees the provision of education up to class VIII for all children between the ages of 6 to 14.

The RTE Act makes it necessary for the government of every state to ensure that all children have access to schools in their neighborhood and are being sent to study.

An amount of Rs 1441.76 crore was allocated to primary education in MCD’s budget for 2010-2011. The allocation in the previous financial year was Rs 1231.20 crore. These figures do not reflect the dismal condition of most primary schools being run by the civic body in this age of Right to Education.

MCD schools cater to nearly 10 lakh children till class V but a look at just three of them is an eye-opener. Though buildings have been constructed by the civic body at some places, there aren’t enough teachers and not even basic facilities like tables and chairs, running water, toilets, fans and a boundary wall. In fact, around 250 schools are still running in tents.

At the primary school in RPS Colony, Madangir, near Pushp Vihar, there are people — probably guards — living inside the classrooms even as most children are packed in a single room. The reason is shortage of teachers. Though the school building has two storeys, teaching was on in only three rooms on Tuesday as ‘‘one of the teachers was on maternity leave’’ and others had gone for census work. ‘‘The students of classes I, II and III are in one room,’’ said a teacher. There was a running drain in the backyard of the school which had no boundary wall. At a hilltop in the unauthorised colony of Sangam Vihar, a school with 3,000 children runs in sheds without a single table and chair. There is no water to drink and the toilets are unusable. The lack of facilities, including a functional fan, forces them to send the children home earlier than scheduled. A student said, ‘‘the fans have been stolen many times and teachers don’t come on time.’’

According to a spokesperson of Nagar Nigam Shikshak Sangh, Sumit Shokeen: ‘‘Around 20-25% of MCD schools are still functioning out of tents. The MCD has improved the building structure but basic facilities are lacking in some.’’
The corporation had assured last June that all schools would have tables and chairs by year-end but officials say due to legal obstacles they could procure only 35,000 deskcum-chairs though 70,000 were required.

There are 22,000 teachers on the rolls for over 10 lakh students. Out of this, 1,800 TGTs have to move to Delhi government on promotion by April 30. The Right to Education enforced from April 1 stipulates a teacherstudent ratio of 1:30 in schools. At MCD schools, the equation has gone completely awry. The civic body has now asked for 6,500 teachers from Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board. It’s surprising that MCD merged 80 schools in the past two to three years claiming a low turnout of students. There are schools like the one at Jaitpur near Badarpur which have too many children to be accommodated. At Jaitpur, hundreds of children are forced to spend time in the verandah and the corridors. Parents say there is no place for them to sit and not enough teachers to attend to them.  A parent, Kamlawati, said, ‘‘Hardly any classes take place during the day but I am still forced to send my child here as other schools are too expensive.’’ Many other parents like her had lined up here for admissions on Tuesday.

‘‘There are already 7,000 children studying in two shifts in this school with no proper seating arrangement. The funds provided by Delhi government are often not released to the MCD on time due to clash of party interests,’’ said RC Dabas, general secretary, Akhil Delhi Prathmik Shikshak Sangh. Aother teacher, Ashok Kasana, who is also the general secretary of Nagar Nigam Shikshak Sangh, said, ‘‘The schools in unauthorised colonies have more enrolments than the schools in proper colonies. Why can’t the MCD provide buses to transfer children from crowded schools to the ones with low enrolment?’’

P R Sawhney, education committee chairperson, gives his reason: ‘‘We get funds from Delhi government for running primary schools. However, this has been recently slashed by nearly 50%. We had demanded Rs 300 crore but have received only Rs 65 crore till date and are planning to approach the L-G on this matter.’’ When asked about the schools we had visited, Sawhney said: ‘‘It is the responsibility of the deputy education officer (DEO) of each zone to ensure that basic facilities are available. If the DEO is not there, it is the responsibility of the principal who should be suspended in such cases. Each principal is allocated Rs 50,000 per annum for the upkeep of school buildings.’’

NO FUND CRUNCH
umber of primary schools run by MCD | 1,746
Number of children in MCD schools | 10 lakh
Teachers | 22,000 Teachers on contract | 2,500
MCD budget for primary education | Rs 1,441cr
Schools functioning out of tents/ temporary structures | 250

Problems
Lack of basic facilities like toilet, running water, benches & chairs
Missing boundary walls, poor security Encroachment in school premises
Irregular timings
Shortage of teachers

Ruhi Bhasin & Neha Pushkarna, The Times of India, 29 April 2010

The `Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009′ (RTE Act) came into effect today, with much fanfare and an address by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In understanding the debates about this Act, a little background knowledge is required. Hence, in this self-contained 1500-word blog post, I start with a historical narrative, outline key features of the Act, describe its serious flaws, and suggest ways to address them.

Historical narrative

After independence, Article 45 under the newly framed Constitution stated that the state shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.

As is evident, even after 60 years, universal elementary education remains a distant dream. Despite high enrolment rates of approximately 95% as per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2009), 52.8% of children studying in 5th grade lack the reading skills expected at 2nd grade. Free and compulsory elementary education was made a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution in December 2002, by the 86th Amendment. In translating this into action, the `Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill’ was drafted in 2005. This was revised and became an Act in August 2009, but was not notified for roughly 7 months.

The reasons for delay in notification can be mostly attributed to unresolved financial negotiations between the National University of Education Planning and Administration, NUEPA, which has been responsible for estimating RTE funds and the Planning Commission and Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD). From an estimate of an additional Rs.3.2 trillion to Rs.4.4 trillion for the implementation of RTE Draft Bill 2005 over 6 years (Central Advisory Board of Education, CABE) the figure finally set by NUEPA now stands at a much reduced Rs.1.7 trillion over the coming 5 years. For a frame of reference, Rs.1 trillion is 1.8% of one year’s GDP.

Most education experts agree that this amount will be insufficient. Since education falls under the concurrent list of the Constitution, financial negotiations were also undertaken between Central and State authorities to agree on sharing of expenses. This has been agreed at 35:65 between States and Centre, though state governments continue to argue that their share should be lower.

Overview of the Act

The RTE Act is a detailed and comprehensive piece of legislation which includes provisions related to schools, teachers, curriculum, evaluation, access and specific division of duties and responsibilities of different stakeholders. Key features of the Act include:

1. Every child from 6 to 14 years of age has a right to free and compulsory education in a neighborhood school till completion of elementary education.
2. Private schools must take in a quarter of their class strength from `weaker sections and disadvantaged groups’, sponsored by the government.
3. All schools except private unaided schools are to be managed by School Management Committees with 75 per cent parents and guardians as members.
4. All schools except government schools are required to be recognized by meeting specified norms and standards within 3 years to avoid closure.

On the basis of this Act, the government has framed subordinate legislation called model rules as guidelines to states for the implementation of the Act.

A critique

The RTE Act has been criticised by a diverse array of voices, including some of the best economists. MHRD was perhaps keen to achieve this legislation in the first 100 days of the second term of the UPA, and chose to ignore many important difficulties of the Act. The most important difficulties are:

Inputs and Outcomes

The Act is excessively input-focused rather than outcomes-oriented. Even though better school facilities, books, uniforms and better qualified teachers are important, their significance in the Act has been overestimated in the light of inefficient, corrupt and unaccountable institutions of education provision.

School Recognition

The Act unfairly penalises private unrecognised schools for their payment of market wages for teachers rather than elevated civil service wages. It also penalises private schools for lacking the infrastructural facilities defined under a Schedule under the Act. These schools, which are extremely cost efficient, operate mostly in rural areas or urban slums, and provide essential educational services to the poor. Independent studies by Geeta Kingdon, James Tooley and ASER 2009 suggest that these schools provide similar if not better teaching services when compared to government schools, while spending a much smaller amount. However, the Act requires government action to shut down these schools over the coming three years. A better alternative would have been to find mechanisms through which public resources could have been infused into these schools. The exemption from these same recognition requirements for government schools is the case of double standards — with the public sector being exempted from the same `requirements’.

School Management Committees (SMCs)

By the Act, SMCs are to comprise of mostly parents, and are to be responsible for planning and managing the operations of government and aided schools. SMCs will help increase the accountability of government schools, but SMCs for government schools need to be given greater powers over evaluation of teacher competencies and students learning assessment. Members of SMCs are required to volunteer their time and effort. This is an onerous burden for hte poor. Payment of some compensation to members of SMCs could help increase the time and focus upon these. Turning to private but `aided’ schools, the new role of SMCs for private `aided’ schools will lead to a breakdown of the existing management structures.

Teachers

Teachers are the cornerstone of good quality education and need to be paid market-driven compensation. But the government has gone too far by requiring high teacher salaries averaging close to Rs.20,000 per month. These wages are clearly out of line, when compared with the market wage of a teacher, for most schools in most locations in the country. A better mechanism would have involved schools being allowed to design their own teacher salary packages and having autonomy to manage teachers. A major problem in India is the lack of incentive faced by teachers either in terms of carrot or stick. In the RTE Act, proper disciplinary channels for teachers have not been defined. Such disciplinary action is a must given that an average of 25 percent teachers are absent from schools at any given point and almost half of those who are present are not engaged in teaching activity. School Management Committees need to be given this power to allow speedy disciplinary action at the local level. Performance based pay scales need to be considered as a way to improve teaching.

25% reservation in private schools

The Act and the Rules require all private schools (whether aided or not) to reserve at least 25% of their seats for economically weaker and socially disadvantaged sections in the entry level class. These students will not pay tuition fees. Private schools will receive reimbursements from the government calculated on the basis of per-child expenditure in government schools. Greater clarity for successful implementation is needed on:

• How will `weaker and disadvantaged sections’ be defined and verified?
• How will the government select these students for entry level class?
• Would the admission lottery be conducted by neighbourhood or by entire village/town/city? How would the supply-demand gaps in each neighbourhood be addressed?
• What will be the mechanism for reimbursement to private schools?
• How will the government monitor the whole process? What type of external vigilance/social audit would be allowed/encouraged on the process?
• What would happen if some of these students need to change school in higher classes?

Moreover, the method for calculation of per-child reimbursement expenditure (which is to exclude capital cost estimates) will yield an inadequate resource flow to private schools. It will be tantamount to a tax on private schools. Private schools will endup charging more to the 75% of students – who are paying tuitions – to make space for the 25% of students they are forced to take. This will drive up tuition fees for private schools (while government schools continue to be taxpayer funded and essentially free).

Reimbursement calculations should include capital as well recurring costs incurred by the government.

By dictating the terms of payment, the government has reserved the right to fix its own price, which makes private unaided schools resent this imposition of a flat price. A graded system for reimbursement would work better, where schools are grouped — based on infrastructure, academic outcomes and other quality indicators — into different categories, which would then determine their reimbursement.

What is to be done?

The RTE Act has been passed; the Model Rules have been released; financial closure appears in hand. Does this mean the policy process is now impervious to change? Even today, much can be achieved through a sustained engagement with this problem.

Drafting of State Rules

Even though state rules are likely to be on the same lines as the model rules, these rules are still to be drafted by state level authorities keeping in mind contextual requirements. Advocacy on the flaws of the Central arrangements, and partnerships with state education departments, could yield improvements in atleast some States. Examples of critical changes which state governments should consider are: giving SMCs greater disciplinary power over teachers and responsibility of students’ learning assessment, greater autonomy for schools to decide teacher salaries and increased clarity in the implementation strategy for 25% reservations. If even a few States are able to break away from the flaws of the Central arrangements, this would yield demonstration effects of the benefits from better policies.

Assisting private unrecognized schools

Since unrecognized schools could face closure in view of prescribed recognition standards within three years, we could find ways to support such schools to improve their facilities by resource support and providing linkages with financial institutions. Moreover, by instituting proper rating mechanisms wherein schools can be rated on the basis of infrastructure, learning achievements and other quality indicators, constructive competition can ensue.

Ensure proper implementation

Despite the flaws in the RTE Act, it is equally important for us to simultaneously ensure its proper implementation. Besides bringing about design changes, we as responsible civil society members need to make the government accountable through social audits, filing right to information applications and demanding our children’s right to quality elementary education. Moreover, it is likely that once the Act is notified, a number of different groups affected by this Act will challenge it in court. It is, therefore, critically important for us to follow such cases and where feasible provide support which addresses their concerns without jeopardizing the implementation of the Act.

Awareness

Most well-meaning legislations fail to make significant changes without proper awareness and grassroot pressure. Schools need to be made aware of provisions of the 25% reservations, the role of SMCs and the requirements under the Schedule. This can be undertaken through mass awareness programs as well as ensuring proper understanding by stakeholders responsible for its implementation.

Ecosystem creation for greater private involvement

Finally, along with ensuring implementation of the RTE Act which stipulates focused reforms in government schools and regulation for private schools, we need to broaden our vision so as to create an ecosystem conducive to spontaneous private involvement. The current licensing and regulatory restrictions in the education sector discourage well-intentioned `edupreneurs’ from opening more schools. Starting a school in Delhi, for instance, is a mind-numbing, expensive and time-consuming task which requires clearances from four different departments totaling more than 30 licenses. The need for deregulation is obvious.

Please support our efforts towards ensuring Right to Education of Choice through some of the activities suggested above. Join our RTE Coalition.

Parth Shah, Ajay Shah’s Blog, 1 April 2010

The Right to Education Act (RTE) that came into effect from April 1 mentions there should be no entrance test for a child seeking admission to any class.But a Delhi government advertisement on March 28 — an admission notice for Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas (RPVVs) —  says students must sit for an entrance exam for admission to class 6.

In what would be a clear violation of the section 13 of the RTE Act, “if any school or person … subjects a child to a screening procedure, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees for the first contravention and fifty thousand rupees for each subsequent contraventions.”

The admission notice mentions, “All registered students will have to appear in the entrance test that will be administered on the same day, date and time in all RPVVs.” The entrance test for the RPVVs, which have classes 6 to 12, is conducted every year consists of objective type questions to test numerical ability, mental ability, general knowledge and language.

City-based lawyer and activist Ashok Agarwal, who is also associated with the NGO Social Jurist, has already written to CM Sheila Dikshit, Directorate of Education (DoE) and Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) to intervene and withdraw it immediately.”What is the point of having such an act and then see it undermined by such tests. The government should withdraw the notice immediately,” said Agarwal, who plans to file a PIL if the government does not take immediate action.

“When I approached government officials, they said that in the absence of an entrance test, the standard of the RPVVs will fall,” he added.

Amod Kanth, chairperson, DCPCR said, “We will ensure there is no violation of the Act. We will take up the issue with the DoE on Monday.”

Hindustan Times, 4 April 2010

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is seeking to merge 20 of its schools with other schools in the area on the grounds of “low enrolment” which it claims is primarily due to relocation of people and shifting of population from one area to another on account of commercialisation.

“Running the schools with abnormally low enrolments results in wasteful expenditure besides under-utilisation of the staff posted there. Several such school buildings will be handed over to the MCD land and estate department for further use. The schools where these children would be transferred have enough space to accommodate the additional enrolments. The maximum number of schools being shut down are in South Zone,” said an MCD official.

Earlier the MCD education committee had come up with a list of 60 vacant school plots which they had proposed to put to commercial use. The MCD Education Committee chairman Prithivraj Sawhney said: “The overall enrolments in MCD schools have risen over the year. But in certain cases, the number of students attending school is less than 100 and it does not make sense to keep such schools functional.”

Ironically many of the MCD schools still run out of tents and civic body has allocated a huge amount for construction of new school buildings.

Besides the merger of schools, the MCD has also decided to implement a proposal to double the existing Life Insurance Corporation money for students studying in the civic body’s schools from Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000 in case of an accidental death of a student in the school premises.

According to the MCD Standing Committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal, the scheme would cover about 10 lakh students studying in various schools run by the civic body in the Capital.

“This scheme for providing LIC money to students was introduced in 2002 and that time it envisaged payment of Rs.25,000 in case of an accidental death of an MCD student in the school. This amount now has been increased to Rs.50,000 and would come into effect from the beginning of the new financial year. In addition, the LIC money for students injured grievously by accident in the school premises has also been increased from the present Rs.12,000 to Rs.25,000,” Mr. Sawhney said.

The Hindu, 16 March 2010