Human Rights and Right to Education: A Fundamental Right

Dr Gaikhamsin Riamei *

Right To Education RTE Act 2009 :: Pix - india.gov.in

If you plan for 1 year, plant rice;
If you plan for 10 year, plant trees;
If you plan for 100 year, educate your children.

Introduction

Human rights are the most fundamental of all rights that people have because of the simple reason that they are human beings. Every single citizen (person): man, woman and child have these rights. They are the right to live with human dignity, liberty comprising all the political, civil, social, economic and cultural rights. Human being and human rights are like two sides of a same coin. Without human being there is no logic of the existence of human rights.

So also without human rights, people cannot live as dignified human beings in any given society. The very essential elements of human rights are that they belong to every single individual and they are unalienable birthrights of all members of human society. These rights are to be enjoyed by all without any discrimination with regard to age, race, gender, language, religion, political, social or national origin, birth or other status. Therefore, the human right of the right to education of children has been adopted by the government of India as one of the fundamental rights for the age-group of 6(six) to 14(fourteen) year and now it is enforceable by courts in India.

The right to education(RTE) or right of children to free and compulsory education is an Indian legislation adopted by the Parliament of India on the 4th August, 2009 which describes the modalities of the provision(s) of free and compulsory education for all children between 6(six) and 14(fourteen) age-group in India under Article-21A of the Indian Constitution. India is one among 135 countries of the world to make education a fundamental right of every child as the Act has come into force on the 1st April, 2010.

Though the present Act has its history in the drafting of the Indian Constitution at the time of Independence, and more specifically to the 2002 Constitutional Amendment that included the article-21A in the Indian Constitution making education a fundamental right, passing of the right of children to free and compulsory education Act, 2009 and has been hailed as a historic movement for the children of India because it guaranteed their right to quality elementary education by the state with the help of families and communities.

Free and Compulsory Elementary Education

All children between the ages of 6(six) to 14(fourteen) shall have the right to free and compulsory elementary education at a neighborhood school. There is no direct (school fees) or indirect cost (uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meal, transportation) to be borne by the child or the parents to obtain elementary education. The government will provide schooling free-of-cost until a child's elementary education is completed.

In fact, only few countries in the world have such a national provision to ensure child-centered and child-friendly education at the formative stage to help all children develop to their fullest potential. There was an estimation of eight million children of between 6 to 14 years-old in India out-of-school in 2009. The world could reach its goal to have every child complete primary school by 2015 with India, as India being part and partial of it.

As per the provision(s) of the Act schools must constitute School Management Committees (SMCs) comprising local authority, officials, parents, guardians and teachers. The SMC must look after the whole affairs of school including monitoring the utilization of government grants.

The right to education also mandates the inclusion of 50 per cent women and parents of children from disadvantaged groups in SMCs. Such community participation will be crucial to ensuring a child-friendly "whole school" environment through separate toilet facilities for girls and boys and adequate attention to health, water, sanitation and hygiene issues.

Among other salient features, the Act not just ensures free and compulsory education to all the children of the age-group of 6(six) to 14(fourteen) year till completion of elementary education, call for a fixed teacher-pupil ratio (1:30 for primary class and 1:35 for upper primary class) and professional training for teachers, reservation of 25% of seats for economically disadvantaged communities from poor families in admission into class I in all private and special category schools ( to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public- private partnership plan) and mandates development of necessary infrastructures. It also restricts all unrecognized schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no test or interview of the child or parent for admission, etc in all categories of schools operating in any part of India including Manipur.

Another significant feature of the Act is the monitoring of the implementation of it by the National Commission for protection of child Rights, an autonomous body set up in 2007, together with Commissions of the State Governments concerned.

Mid Day Meal scheme and RTE Act, 2009

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme of the Government of India has the same target to the said age-group of children as specified in the Right to Education Act to provide hot cooked meal to children of primary and upper primary classes at school. The other objectives of the scheme is to improve nutritional status of children with the philosophy of good food for good thought, encourage poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections of society, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on their studies without hunger, thereby increasing the number of enrollment and attendance rates at school.

To bring Tamenglong District into picture as a reference, it is reported that altogether 93,062 (ninety three thousand sixty two) students have benefited under the scheme during the year 2012-2013. It is said that the Education Department has utilized as many as 7877.66 (seven thousand eight hundred and seventy seven point sixty six) quintals of rice for mid-day meal in the aforesaid period. (Source: p.3, 14th September, 2013 of Sangai Express).

The combination of these right to education Act, 2009 and mid-day meal scheme of government of India is a boon for the age-group of 6(six) to 14(fourteen) of children in particular and the whole Indian society in general. These very two schemes of government of India provide the right environment for children's education as it is said that "environment is an arresting factor". Now, the question is-who is to blame if these benefiting provisions of the said Act cannot be implemented in the school(s) located at your own locality/village. It will be your fault because the Government of Manipur in particular and Government of India in general, with all the transparencies have given to you the right directly monitor and to look after the school(s) of your own sons and daughters for their quality education.

Now, the question is how far the children of Manipur in particular have been able to enjoy their fundamental right of access to free and quality education as provided? In the recent academic session of 2013, the craze for parents to send their children to private schools spending their hard-earned money continues to be a harsh reality in Manipur even after nearly four years of enactment/enforcement and implementation of the right of children for free and compulsory education legislation and the cry for quality education remains a popular slogan on lips of majority in Manipur.

Why should parents send their children to private schools, that too, at the cost of spending huge amount of money if the government schools at any locality/village or Manipur were effectively implemented as much as the provisions guaranteed by the Act?

Mechanism available if right to education is violated

The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights shall review the safeguards for rights provided under this Act, investigate complaints and have the powers of a civil court in trying cases.

States of Indian union should constitute a State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) or the Right to Education Protection Authority (REPA) within six months from 1st April, 2010. Any person wishing to file a grievance must submit a written complaint to the local authority (Block Education office/Zonal Education Office, etc.) or even at the Manipur State Commission for protection of child Rights as its office has been operative or National Commission for protection of child rights for that matter.

Finally complaints can also be taken to law courts, as the right to education is now an enforceable fundamental right of all children between the age-group of 6-14 year.

Challenges ahead

1. State Governments' Apathy:
i) Lack of commitment
ii) Poor economic conditions of the States
III) To maintain pupil-teacher ratio as per the Act, appear a distant dream.

2. Availability of Infrastructure Facilities under the Act:
i) Establishment of Primary Schools within one kilometer and upper Primary Schools within three kilometer distance.
ii) Well equipped classrooms, library, laboratory, play ground, drinking water and toilet facilities ect.

Suggested strategies to implement the given provisions in the Right to Education Act, 2009 in all the government schools of Manipur in particular:
1. Each and every government school must form a school management committee as prescribed to
i) effectively monitor the working of the school;
ii) prepare and recommend the school development plan;
iii) monitor the utilization of grants;
iv) check the performance and attendance of teachers (as they are accountable to school management committee);
v) perform other functions as may be prescribed.

2. All the School Management Committees of every Sub-Division/District of Manipur must form a common platform eg. like Joint Action Committee (JAC) to put up a concerted action to implement the cherished provisions of the Right to Education Act, 2009.

3. While the Central and State Governments have their full share of responsibilities in term of budget, it is also a community participation and involvement of local NGOs/communities which can make marked difference in meeting the challenges of implementing the Right to Education Act.

Conclusion

In order to meet the challenges for avoidance of violation of this human right and to conquer the hurdles that stand in the way of implementing the Right to Education Act, it is required to render all efforts with full dedication and involvement. Not only the central and state governments but the nation as a whole should take responsibility in this regard.

Local community participation and support could make marked difference in achieving this cherished goal. There is a need for greater synchronization amongst different agencies and functionaries involved in this task. Focus should be made on qualitative improvement of the whole programme to build a better India.