Ukhrul workshop urges govt expedite RTE implementation
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 23 2011:
A district level workshop on Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 held yesterday in Ukhrul district has resolved to urge the state government to expedite the implementation of RTE in the district.
The workshop at TTA conference hall, Ukhrul was organized jointly by PASDO and Ukhrul District Alliance for Child Rights (UDACR), a district chapter of Manipur Alliance for Child Rights (MACR), said a statement of S Bhaiga, state co-ordinator, MACR.
Around 74 people representing, youth societies, student bodies, women societeis, village authorities, church, teachers, NGOs, media, UDACR, MACR and Education Department participated in the workshop.
It discussed the important provisions/features of RTE Act, 2009 and its rules framed by the state government and implementation status in Ukhrul district.
Keisham Pradipkumar presented the main features of RTE and rules of the Act framed by the Manipur government and officials of the Zonal Education Office (ZEO) Ukhrul, Ringshan Shaiza, district programme manager SSA Ukhrul, Wonthing A Shimray, DI and coordinator of SSA and W Wungnaomi, AI and coordinator, SSA shared the implementation status of RTE in the district.
ZEO officials said that the department has initiated a series of community mobilizations starting from Hungpung and Ukhrul on their own initiative saying that they had received no official direction from the higher authority to go ahead to enforce the Act.
The department has not been able to notify the schools to form the school management and development committees.
The concern was that many of the school authorities and leaders were not aware of the Act and that some of the government schools authorities and leaders were not aware of the Act and that some of the government schools have already opened admissions based on the old norms which violate the RTE Act, they said.
In this regard, the Education Department was urged to expedite the process of community mobilization and make all schools authorities aware of the Act, the statement said.
To urge the department to spread the campaign in the remote villages, and to expedite community mobilization to make the act enforceable in this academic session and to set up the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) at the earliest were other recommendations made in the workshop.