Right to Education -- Anguish of a Parent

In Feb 1984, my English teacher in Class X (Mrs. Sakuntala) came and informed me, "Your essay on "If there were no examinations" in the preliminary exams was excellent. I am pleased with the content." Fortuitously, the final state board examination paper that year also asked students to write an essay - one of the topics was "If there were no Examinations". No wonder, I scored the highest marks in English that year -76/100. 27 years have passed since then - but I still remember some of the poems and lessons that I learnt in Class X. We had a chapter from the book "The Invisible Man" by H G Wells that remains intriguing to this day. Today I realized that the Right to Education Act is far more draconian than I had ever imagined. I realized that the RTE Act recommends that no examinations be conducted till Class VIII. Barely a month back, on a visit to ISRO; I had met a high school science teacher from a Kendriya Vidyalaya school in C V Raman Nagar. She lamented the deteriorating standards in the quality of students over the years. She had been teaching in the Kendriya Vidyalaya School for more than 26 years and observed that students, in the absence of examinations in CBSE board, were more casual in their approach towards studies. I expressed my opinion that the advent of Internet & chat, video games like PSPs, You Tube - all these technological innovations had managed to successfully divert the attention of children away from studies.   It was in this context that that I thought about RTE and the absurd clauses in it. The greatest harm one can do to our country is to attempt to commoditize education. Authority can be delegated. Responsibility cannot. So, how can the State abdicate its responsibilities and pressurize private schools to toe down their line? Free education to all in an equitable society is definitely a novel concept but then the implementation has to begin from the Government schools.   Private schools build up a reputation over the years after painstaking efforts by the school administration, teachers, principals and students. Standardizing the syllabus for all classes will lead to dilution in the quality of education. India is a free land. Parents who have sought admission in a private school have done so on their own volition. So, there is no need for others to crib about the stress for the children and the high standards of education in such schools. If parents and their wards are willing to push the envelope to enrich themselves with the experience so gained, then who are politicians and policy makers to interfere?   Another ludicrous provision relates to the social activities expected from teachers in private schools over and above their school duty hours. If teachers are stressed out, then eventually the students will end up the losers. Today, IT and ITES are attracting the younger population, despite the fact that private schools pay their staff well. So, it is not surprising that, not many are inclined to take up a teaching job and youngsters look forward to lucrative career options. Nowadays, it is so difficult for schools to engage teachers who are passionate about teaching and love teaching. Such clauses in RTE will only discourage prospective teachers from joining the education sector. Some private schools are already doing their bit for the downtrodden, so to pressurize such schools further is unfair.   Today, children are much more precocious than what they ought to be. Technological innovations are successfully disrupting the concentration of the child. Peer pressure has become an evil that we need to dwell upon. Teaching, in today's world, is no joke. A dedicated and passionate teacher struggles to balance the conflicting demands - to be kind to children and to instill discipline in the class room. As a parent, I struggle to be patient with the mulish behavior of my children and often their blunt responses make me pallid. On top of it, the constant threat of job insecurities in the corporate world - especially in the post recession phase. Do we really need a RTE at this phase?   One aspect that is totally being missed out in all this brouhaha is the emotional needs of children. If we are going to induct a quarter of the strength in a class from the lower strata of society, how will these children who are first generation learners cope up with the change? How will these students cope up with the demands of the modern education system? How can private schools change their modus operandi to meet the clauses in RTE without damaging the interests of other children already studying in the school? We are not even talking about class disparities here.   Society, by and large, has to be sensitive to the needs of children. The state has a responsibility towards its citizens and should therefore provide for the welfare for all citizens regardless of caste, creed or religion. A think tank comprising experts in the education field should be set up to discuss the way forward and chart the course of action. The RTE, in its existing form, addresses none of the measures that will elevate the standards of education in the country and make educating every child an absolute necessity. Anything that is done by force always runs the risk of ending up counter productive. So, let us hope that better sense prevails and the RTE changes its dogmatic stance to something that is more participative, facilitative and futuristic.