Right To Education: Issues And Challenges In Its Implementation in the Rural Areas

Abstract

For a fast growing and developing country like India, with a population over 138 Cores, education has acted as a strong stimulus in giving it a direction, a sense of purpose in its social, economic and political development through the process of democratized republic dispensation. Its richness in the field of education, over a period of time having suffered innumerous jolts and insinuations in historical terms subjected it to deterioration and decline to lowest ebb. To restart, regain and shore up the lost ground, a great deal of efforts and initiatives were undertaken in a concerted manner since pre-independence era, not only to make India literate but also knowledgeable in all the fields with special emphasis to make the education a matter of fundamental Right, at least for the elementary education. With a view to accomplish the Fundamental Right provided under Article 21-A, for free and compulsory education to all children of the age six to fourteen years in such a manner as the state may, by law, determine, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, a consequential legislation was enacted. The RTE Act was seen as a landmark step by the Government to provide, every child in that age group including from the disadvantaged group or the weaker sections or differently abled, the right to quality and equitable elementary education in a formal school, which would be of a certain acceptable standard as laid down by the Act. The Act made it legally binding for the state and local governments to follow the norms laid down under the Act, while clearly providing for the responsibilities of the schools, teachers, parents, teacher’s qualifications, pupil-teacher ratio, curriculum and the evaluation etc. However, it appears from the available information that even after decade of its implementation, though the data looks boasting, the progress made at ground level, leaves much to be desired in terms of its objectives. With current emphasis majorly targeted towards accomplishing enrolment numbers and improving infrastructure of schools, focus on quality education seems to have misplaced. The target to reach the unreachable segments of the society with quality education so as to provide an equal educational opportunity to all still looks a distant dream. More particularly, in the context that most of the India’s population (68.84% ) live in rural areas, which have a wide spread and at certain places, even a remote and difficult terrain, with its unique socio-economic-cultural-linguistic problems, limitations, constraints and difficulties, implementing RTE Act, gives rise to a set of challenges. An effort has therefore, been made to examine in this study the status, issues and challenges in the implementation of RTE, Act in rural areas.