Educationists slam RTE due to age limits

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act), gathered heavy criticism from various educationists at an international consultation recently.

Highlighting the fact that the government very conveniently has focused the act around 6 to 14 year olds only, educationists at the consultation on Human Development in India: Emerging Issues and Policy Perspectives; voiced their displeasure over the way below six year olds and their needs have been overlooked completely.

According to the Vice-Chancellor of National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) R Govinda, who was presenting a paper titled Literacy and Elementary Education in India: Emerging Issues and Policy Paradigms:

“There is very convincing evidence that if children are not cared for in the early years, it may be too late. This is because of the effects on nourishment, and in turn, on the cognitive capabilities of children.”

Govinda felt that the education department had clearly washed off its hands from the early childhood care of these children.

Rukmini Banerji another Delhi-based educationist from Pratham said:

“I have never really understood why the RTE Act covers only the age group of 6 to 14. More than 50 per cent of five-year-olds are enrolled in regular schools. In Tamil Nadu, the official age of enrolment is four years eleven months. We have an official system that actually brings children to school well before six. None of the plans or policy documents seems to consider that.”

Rightly so, it is a known and practiced fact that Indian schools enrol students as young as two and a half year olds even if it is pre-school. It therefore does sound a little strange to have the RTE cater to six year olds and above. Also, in a nation where the hunger for education has just kindled and the desire to go to school is high among the people from lower strata as well, the guarantee for free and compulsory education till 18 years of age instead of 14 only would have been a welcome and more apt proposition.

Vimala Ramachandran of ERU Consultant Pvt. Ltd. echoed the same thoughts saying that an increased age limit would act as a ‘suction pump’ for students, motivating them to continue their education up to the secondary and higher secondary education levels.

Other major matters of concern was the demand of over 12 lakh new teachers in primary classes, the poor quality of teachers going to these schools and the high student teacher ratio these days, which stands at 40:1 for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan project.