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Decoding Right to Education Act by Siddharth Kelkar

he Right to Education Act has been in place from April 1, 2010 but many schools in the city and parents of students still do not have much clarity on the provisions. There are misconceptions on the nature of examination and evaluation. Here is an attempt to answer some frequently asked questions

“As per the Right to Education (RTE) Act, though students from class I to VIII cannot be held back, there will be examination in schools,” says education researcher Kishor Darak, who has been participating in consultations on RTE across the state and interpreting the Act for teachers, activists in the field of education, and parents.

There are myths circulating, such as no examination will be held for students from class I to VIII. Darak says the Act talks of changing the evaluation system in schools and not doing away with examinations.

Every school has to abide by the recommendations of the Act, he says, and clarifies some major issues and frequently asked questions regarding the Act that have been confusing parents and teachers.

Evaluation

Darak says as per the Act, schools should adopt a comprehensive and continuous evaluation process to asses performance of students. “In this process, teachers need to observe children, for example, how they interact with their peers or teachers and so on. Teachers will have to note it down and convey it to parents.”

“Up to class VIII, students cannot be held back in a class meaning they won’t fail or repeat a class . However, examinations will be held. The examinations should be stress-free and based on multiple intelligence theory to give importance to critical thinking. It will not stress the memory of students. Teachers are expected to take extra efforts to give a push to students, who lag behind the rest,” he said.

Teacher-student ratio

The Act stipulates a teacher-student ratio of 1:30 for Class I to V and 1:35 for class VI to VIII. “The schools were asked to recruit teachers till October end to match this ratio. However, many urban schools still have a poor teacher-student ratio with a class of 60 having one teacher,” said Darak.

School management committees

“The Act gives a larger say to parents by making appointment of school management committees compulsory in which parents will have 75 per cent representation. They can thus have better control over school functioning. This is not applicable to private, unaided schools,” he said.

No capitation fee

“Schools cannot charge capitation fee. It also says schools cannot conduct interviews of students or parents while admitting a student,” said Darak.

Amenities

The Act strictly says students should be provided enough space and a playground is a must. Transportation of students from home to school should be taken care of

Bindings on schools

Schools that do not abide by any of the norms prescribed in the Act will face action such as de-recognition.

More questions

There is a provision that private schools will have to reserve 25 per cent seats for children from the deprived class. However, if they do so, will they increase fees of the other 75 per cent to cross-subsidise these 25 per cent students is a big question, says Darak.

He says teachers have been given a big responsibility, but will their remuneration increase is another question. “Many private schools appoint temporary teachers on remuneration as meagre as Rs 3,500 per month. It will not help improve quality of teaching.”

“Moreover, there is still ambiguity among teachers regarding the provisions. They need to get properly apprised of it and training to adapt to the new methods of teaching that the Act requires them to inculcate,” adds Darak.