RULES OF THE RTE ACT 2009
We have studied the provisions of RTE Act 2009. For actual implementation of the RTE Act some rules are framed which are called the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2009. These rules may vary up to some extent from state to state. Here, we shall try to study some of the important rules for free and compulsory education of child. The rules to RTE Act are divided into 8 parts.
The Model Rules, 2009 on the Right to Education Act have been formulated to help operationalize the Act. These rules provide a broad framework which the different states could use while devising their own State Rules on RTE. The States must ensure that their RTE Rules include all aspects of grievance redressal including the method of lodging complaints, specific authorities from the State machinery to be approached for complaints, timeline for grievance redressal etc.
The RTE Model Rules document in its current form lays down details on:
- Provisions and methods special training of children in order to bring them up to the learning level of their peers
- The limits of neighbourhood schools
- Duties of the state govt. and local authorities in up-gradation of schools, provision of transport facilities, or residential facilities and all forms of learning support to children with disabilities to ensure completion of elementary education.
- Method and details of records to be maintained of children within the jurisdiction of a local authority.
- Responsibilities of schools and teachers with regard to enrolments and classroom transactions with children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups.
- Documents as age proof required for every child
- Application and procedure to be followed by all schools ‘other than a school established, owned or controlled by the State Government or Local Authority’ in order to gain recognition as mandated by the Act.
- Conditions and procedures under which this recognition could be withdrawn.
- Composition and function of the school management committee.
- Details on the school development plan to be designed and monitored by the SMC.
- Teacher qualifications norms.
This preliminary section is dedicated to define key words of the rules to RTE.
(a) “Act” means the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
(b) “Anganwadi” means an Anganwadi Centre established under the Integrated Child Development Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India
(c) “appointed date” means the date on which the Act comes into force, as notified in the Official Gazette
(d) “Chapter”, “section” and Schedule” means respectively Chapter, section of, and Schedule to, the Act.
(e) “Child” means any child of the age of 6 to 14 years
(f) “Pupil Cumulative Record” means record of the progress of the child based on comprehensive and continuous evaluation
(g) “school mapping” means planning school location to overcome social barriers and geographical distance
Concept and Need of Universalization of Elementary Education | Provisions and Difficulties
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
Special training: Special training for those students whose admission is delayed is to be given by the specially appointed teachers. The purpose of this training is to enable children to successfully integrate themselves with the rest of the class, academically & emotionally. Duration of the training shall be of three months. As a teacher, it is our duty to help the children who are lagging behind.
Special Training for the purposes of first proviso to section 4
The School Management Committee/ local authority shall identify children requiring special training and organise such training in the following manner, namely:
The special training shall be based on specially designed, age appropriate learning material, approved by the academic authority specified in section 29(1). It shall be provided in classes held on the premises of the school, or through classes organised in safe residential facilities. It shall be provided by teachers working in the school, or by teachers specially appointed for the purpose. The duration shall be for a minimum period of three months which may be extended, based on periodical assessment of learning progress, for a maximum period not exceeding two years. The child shall, upon induction into the age appropriate class, after special training, continue to receive special attention by the teacher to enable him/her to successfully integrate with the rest of the class, academically and emotionally.
DUTIES OF STATE GOVERNMENT
Local authority: The schools are to be established by the State Government within a walking distance of 1 KM from his/her residence for the children of classes I-V & within a walking distance of 3 Kms for the students of Classes VI to VIII. If in a particular area the schools already exist then classes as per requirements shall be added to those schools. You know that many states in our country could not evolve the network of elementary schools, as per requirements. Transportation or residential facilities are to be provided by the concerned state governments as per need. We should appreciate the efforts put in by some state governments in this regard. Some states are issuing free travel passes to girl’s student while some are providing bicycles to the girls, for enabling them to attend the school. For establishing neighborhood schools the state government/local authority is going to undertake the school mapping and all types of children including children with special needs shall be identified by the authorities.
Maintenance of Records
The Local Authority shall maintain a record of all children, in its jurisdiction, through a household survey, from their birth till they attain the age of 14 years & the record should be updated each year. Here, as a teacher our role is of vital importance. It is our duty to bring to the notice of the local authority any deviation from the rights of the child, in particular physical and mental harassment of children, denial of admission etc. We should be very watchful regarding this issue. We are required to identify the needs, prepare a plan and monitor the implementation of the provisions of RTE Act.
The local authority is expected to monitor the implementation of the mid-day meals in the school. As you know this scheme is already in existence in many states and we often read the news of some mal practices in the scheme. It is our duty to check the mal practices if any, at our level. The management committee shall prepare a school development plan which shall be for three years. It shall include infrastructural requirements, requirements regarding human resource i.e. headmaster & teachers and additional financial requirements as per need. We can assist the management committee for preparing this plan.
Responsibilities of Schools and Teachers
Every school controlled or recognized by the State Government shall help to implement the provisions of RTE. We should never forget that the school is not run for profit to any individual, group or association of individuals or any other persons. The role of District Education Officer is very important because he is expected to act as custodian to implement the provisions of RTE Act in an effective way. The schools shall work under instructions of DEO. As a teacher will have to play a pivotal role in the Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) because we are supposed to be main human resource in implementation of the RTE, Act.
Our school may face the action of de-recognition if we fail to comply with the responsibilities entrusted with ourselves and the school. We are required to identify and enlist all eligible children within our area of work, identify the neighborhood school and make the same available to the child.
School Management Committee
As you know, management is an important aspect of education. We need to manage our schools in a better way if we wish to give elementary education to all the children. As per provision of the RTE Act, the School Management Committee shall be constituted mainly out of parents of children and their strength shall be 75%. Some of the important functions of the committee will be as follows-
- Monitor that the teachers are not burdened with non-academic duties (except with those of census and elections)
- In addition to normal duties the teachers are required to maintain a file containing the cumulative record of every child which will form the basis for awarding the completion certificate to the concerned child for that particular year. We are expected to participate in training programmes, curriculum formulation, training modules, and text book development.
- There shall be a grievance redressal mechanism for teachers. The State Government shall constitute School Tribunals at the State, District and Block levels.
- The State or local authority shall maintain the pupil teacher ratio.
Teachers
The academic authority of the concerned State lays down the qualifications of teachers. The minimum qualifications laid down by this authority are applicable to all schools. In a state where there is a shortage of trained teachers, the qualifications may be relaxed for appointment but the teacher should at least possess the minimum academic qualifications as may be prescribed (i.e. H.S.S.C.)
Curriculum and Completion of Elementary Education
The State Government shall notify the State Council of Educational Research and Training (or its equivalent), as the academic authority, which shall formulate syllabus and textbooks and other learning material. It shall also develop in-service teacher training programme, design and prepare guidelines for implementing curriculum and practicing continuous comprehensive evaluation (CCE).
The certificate of completion of elementary education shall be issued at the school/ block/district level within one month of the completion of elementary education.
The certificate of successful completion of elementary education shall certify that the child has completed all the courses of study prescribed. It will also reflect the pupils’ cumulative record and also specify achievements of the child in the areas of activities beyond the prescribed course of study and may include music, dance, literature and sports etc.
As a teacher you have to be careful in maintaining all types of records, especially cumulative records of every child which will help you to assess the overall development of the child.
Protection of Rights of Children
Many States in country have constituted State Commissions for Protection of the Child Rights. In respect of a State which does not have a State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the State Government may take immediate steps to setup such commission. Till such time, an interim authority known as Right to Education Protection Authority (REPA) shall be setup. It has been found that in spite of establishment of commissions or authorities, the objectives are not achieved completely due to absence of cooperation and commitment at all levels. So, as a teacher it is our prime duty to work sincerely and cooperate for achieving the cherished goals of the RTE Act 2009.
Types of rights
Children’s rights are defined in numerous ways, including a wide spectrum of civil, cultural, economic, social and political rights. Rights tend to be of two general types: those advocating for children as autonomous persons under the law and those placing a claim on society for protection from harms perpetrated on children because of their dependency. These have been labeled as the right of empowerment and as the right to protection. One Canadian organization categorizes children’s rights into three categories:
Provision: Children have the right to an adequate standard of living, health care, education and services, and to play and recreation. These include a balanced diet, a warm bed to sleep in, and access to schooling.
Protection: Children have the right to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination. This includes the right to safe places for children to play; constructive child rearing behavior, and acknowledgment of the evolving capacities of children.
Participation: Children have the right to participate in communities and have programs and services for themselves. This includes children’s involvement in libraries and community programs, youth voice activities, and involving children as decision-makers.
In a similar fashion, the Child Rights Information Network, or CRIN for short, categorizes rights into two groups:
Economic, social and cultural rights, related to the conditions necessary to meet basic human needs such as food, shelter, education, health care, and gainful employment. Included are rights to education, adequate housing, food, water, the highest attainable standard of health, the right to work and rights at work, as well as the cultural rights of minorities and indigenous people.
Environmental, cultural and developmental rights, which are sometimes called “third generation rights,” and including the right to live in safe and healthy environments and that groups of people have the right to cultural, political, and economic development.
Scholarly study generally focuses children’s rights by identifying individual rights. The following rights “allow children to grow up healthy and free.
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of thought
- Freedom from fear
- Freedom of choice and the right to make decisions
- Ownership over one’s body
- Education is in the concurrent list. As you know, to impart education is the joint responsibility of the Central as well as State Governments. The Central Government and the State Government shall have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of RTE Act.
- The Central Government shall prepare the estimates of capital and recurring expenditure for the implementation of the provisions of RTE Act.
- The Central Government shall provide to the State Government, as grants- in-aid of revenues such percentage of expenditure as it may determine, from time to time, in consultation with the State Government.
- The State Government, from the funds received from the Central Government and its own resources, will be responsible to provide funds for the implementation of the provisions of RTE.
- It shall be the joint responsibility of the Central Government & the concerned State Government to provide free elementary education to every child of the age of 6 to 14 years. Here, we should not forget that it is not easy to meet the huge expenditure to be incurred for providing education to all. It is going to be the biggest challenge to spare thousands of crores of rupees for this task.
The concerned State Government will have to:
- Ensure compulsory admission attendance and completion of elementary education by every child in the age group specified above, as discussed earlier our role as a teacher, is of vital importance in this regard.
- Ensure availability of neighborhood school.
- Ensure that no discrimination is made on any ground among children regarding persuasion of elementary education. Here also we are expected to work for checking discrimination.
- Ensure the availability of all types of infrastructural and educational facilities to each and every child for completion of elementary education. Many a times in want of financial support we could not provide good infrastructural facilities, here again it is our duty to avail finances from various resources.
- Ensure that quality elementary education is accessible to every child. Our role as teachers is important in maintaining the quality of elementary education.
- Provide training facilities to the teacher working in the area of elementary education. It is infact a good opportunity for us to acquire the necessary qualifications (training) which may also help us for teaching in a better way. It may also give stability as a teacher.
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