RIGHT TO EDUCATION BILL

THE CAMPAIGN

• What is the bill about?

• History of the Bill

• Why are we campaigning?

• Goals and Next Steps

• How can you help

• News articles about the bill

• Letter to PM on RTE bill

• FAQs

What is the bill about?

• Every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years has the right to free and compulsory education. This is stated as per the 86th Constitution Amendment Act added Article 21A. The right to education bill seeks to give effect to this amendment
• The government schools shall provide free education to all the children and the schools will be managed by school management committees (SMC). Private schools shall admit at least 25% of the children in their schools without any fee.
• The National Commission for Elementary Education shall be constituted to monitor all aspects of elementary education including quality.

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The text of the entire bill can be read at: http://educationforallinindia.com/RighttoEducationBill2005.pdf

History of the billl

December 2002

86th Amendment Act (2002) via Article 21A (Part III) seeks to make free and compulsory education a Fundamental Right for all children in the age group 6-14 years.

October 2003

A first draft of the legislation envisaged in the above Article, viz., Free and Compulsory Education for Children Bill, 2003, was prepared and posted on this website in October, 2003, inviting comments and suggestions from the public at large.

2004

Subsequently, taking into account the suggestions received on this draft, a revised draft of the Bill entitled Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2004, was prepared and posted on the http://education.nic.in website.

June 2005

The CABE (Central Advisory Board of Education) committee drafted the ‘Right to Education’ Bill and submitted to the Ministry of HRD. MHRD sent it to NAC where Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson. NAC sent the Bill to PM for his observation.

14th July 2006

The finance committee and planning commission rejected the Bill citing the lack of funds and a Model bill was sent to states for the making necessary arrangements. (Post-86th amendment, States had already cited lack of funds at State level)

19th July 2006

CACL, SAFE, NAFRE, CABE invited ILP and other organizations for a Planning meeting to discuss the impact of the Parliament action, initiate advocacy actions and set directions on what needs to be done at the district and village levels.

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Why are we campaigning?

• The government rejected the bill quoting that it lacks resources to fund the bill which we feel is unreasonable since the budget for the bill is estimated to be Rs 4,36,000 cr.
• The people of this nation are being betrayed by not being given the Right to Free and Compulsory Education through Central Government legislation. We need to make sure that people are given those rights.

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Goals and Next Steps

• File a petition online about the bill
• Reach out to as many people as possible and get them to sign the petition
• Generate enough momentum and try to reintroduce the bill by Aug 29^th 2006

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How can you help

• By signing the online petition
• By spreading awareness amongst other Indians about the bill.

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Right to Education Bill in the news

1.      Private schools have the last laugh on RTE

Letter to PM

The A letter addressed to the PM was written by the NKC regarding RTE bill. This can be accessed at: http://www.ilpnet.org/rte/LettertoPMonRTEbill20Oct2006.doc

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FAQs

1.      Why is the Bill important?

The Bill is important because it is the first step in the direction of the government’s active role in ensuring implementation of the Constitutional Amendment. And as important, the Bill:

·         Legislates provision of free and compulsory elementary and secondary education

·         Provides for a school in every neighborhood

·         Provides for a School Monitoring Committee – elected representatives of the community to ensure proper functioning

·         Mandates that no child in the age group 6-14 shall be employed

All this are right steps to lay the foundation for the development of a common public school system that can provide quality education to all the children, thus preventing exclusion of socially and economically disadvantaged population.

2.      Why is the chosen age group 6 - 14?

·         The bill focuses on providing primary to high school education compulsorily to all children and also the education given in this age group would be the ground work for their future.

3.      Why do we (ILP) support the Right to Education Bill?

• ILP has supported the Right to Education Bill since 1997
• ILP helped campaign for the 93rd amendment to the Constitution making education a fundamental right of a child.
• ILP is a core member of Campaign Against Child Labor, child labor being one of the issues addressed by the Bill – where the Bill specifically states ” No person shall employ or engage a child in a manner that renders her a working child.”
• For immediate action ILP will join the existing networks and involve all its partners to be active in the networks through wall writings, pamphlet distributions, organizing press meets, consultations, signature campaign from SHGs( one of the biggest force to demand education). Join with CACL in Karnataka, APACR in Andhra Pradesh, a network in Orissa through our partners, Rajasthan we can Ask  Mr. RAjan Chowdhury , our partner to oraganise  campign activities there.  In Tamil Nadu CACL is active. In the US, ILP-US to coordinate a signature campaign and submit a petition to the Ministry of HRD, Prime Minister and President of India

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