'RTE Act commercializes education' activists to protest

Updated on: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New Delhi: 15,000 teachers, students, parents and civil rights activists from 16 states, under the banner of All India Forum (AIF) will be opposing, the government's move to commercialize education.

Grassroots level organizations and about 35 teachers and students' organization, groups advocating the right to education will also join the march.

An alternative political agenda of systemic transformation in the education system and policy is also planned by the protesters, which they mull to place before the nation.

Educationist Anil Sadgopal, who had been a part of the National Curriculum Framework said in a scathing attack on the new policies on education that it has been made the "crassest kind of commodity."

Former member of Rajya Sabha Kuldip Nayar, digging inside the recent actions of the Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal said that, "With the Supreme Court's ruling in the favor of free and compulsory education already given a green signal long back, its implementation stage is still far away. Nothing concrete seems to be happening, instead, Sibal on every fourth day comes up with a new thought like bringing in foreign universities, freedom to private schools in terms of fees and salaries. It is only for a particular section that the education is made available, it still lacks the availability to all."

Highlighting the controversy on the implementation of the RTE Act, Sadgopal said that, "On one hand, we aim to provide children with free and compulsory education and on the other, we have Karnataka shutting down 500 government schools followed by another 800 in just two months upon the obligation of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The state was, in the last 20 years, being forced by them to cut down on investments in education and health from 4% to 3.5% per year, which is having a devastating effect on our education system."

"Such an effort makes the hold of the government on the credibility and quality of its schools on stake. Revolutionary changes were expected to overhaul the education scenario with the advent of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and even after 10 years, we still have 60% of students who do not complete class VIII and 15% class XII. Apart from bringing 10 foreign universities and a few new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Science (IISc) does Sibal have any idea that 18000 colleges and 500 odd universities are waiting to get upgraded!"

Proposing a review of the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002, the forum seeks to replace the farcical Right To Education Act, 2009, with an Act rooted in a fully public-funded 'common school system' based on neighbourhood schools, among others and guarantees fundamental right to free education up to 18 years of age.

The forum also showed aggression towards the policies of government's public-private partnership and said that this is their attempt to drain off the money from the public for private investments.

'RTE Act commercializes education' activists to protest

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