CRY presents three key demands in Right to Education Act

In a bid to exhort free education for children, the advocacy group Child Rights and You (CRY) has presented a charter to the government with three vital education demands. Already signed by over 7.5 lakh citizens, the charter is set exceed all the earlier charters of free education rights of the child.  

As per the charter, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, must include the children below six years alongside those in the age group of 15 to 18 years for free education. The charter also seeks the allotment of 10 per cent of India's Gross Domestic Product to education. It also seeks quality schools with the help of B.Ed teachers within one km of every habitation across the country.

To observe 20 years of the formulation of the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child, the signature campaign was kicked off. Priya Zutshi, manager-communication for CRY has informed TOI that the charter with signatures to both the Prime Minister and the President will see the culmination of the campaign in the form of a symbolic book.

With the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, we would push the government to revise the Act to make its provisions favorable to each and every child in the country, informed CRY's regional director Puja Marwaha. 

Over 200 grassroots NGO partners of CRY working with 6,700 villages and slums across 18 states in India have actively participated in the signature campaign. The campaign has reached to every district of the state in Maharashtra with the help of over 16 partners of CRY.  

Justifying the basis behind the three key demands, Zutshi said that current policy of education is not good enough in India, considering its significant population between 0 to 18 years. Thus, the government is not supposed to limit the right to education by including only nursery education under its free education scheme, Zutshi said.