Our Correspondent / New Delhi
Parliament has passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 with Rajya Sabha approving it Tuesday.
Lok Sabha had passed it earlier. Replying to the debate on the bill, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said education is national agenda and all political parties should work together to accomplish it. He said deteriorating standard of education in government schools is a matter of concern and the government has taken several initiatives to improve the quality of education.
Mr Javadekar said learning outcomes have been codified and handbooks have been provided to schools. He said parents will also be given copy of the outcomes so that they may know what their wards are expected to know in a particular class.
Apart from this, school children will be required to pass examination in fifth and eighth class to move to next class. For this, examination will be held in March and those who are not able to clear this examination will be given another opportunity in May.
If they do not clear second examination, they will be detained in that class. The minister said board examinations are also being reintroduced in class tenth from this academic session. On demand by members that teachers should not be engaged for non-academic works, Mr Javadekar said the census work is held once in ten years while elections are held after five years.
On 25 per cent quota for the education of economically weaker sections in private schools, he said the government provides compensation for this. The Minister also refuted the allegation that the budget for education has been reduced.
The bill provides for training of eleven lakh untrained teachers working in government and private schools in next two years through off-line and on-line modes.
The Minister said training will help improve the standards of teachers and education and also ensures job security of the teachers. The Minister said the untrained teachers will start the training programme from 2nd October this year and teachers will have to get themselves registered between 15thAugust and 15th September 2017.
Mr Javadekar said the untrained teachers can avail the training material through Swayam Prabha TV program in multi-languages and will be telecast two to three times daily. The beneficiary has to purchase a set-up box costing one thousand three hundred rupees.
Earlier initiating the discussion, Shamsher Singh Dullo of the Congress underlined the need for quality education. He expressed concern over condition of government schools, which are without teachers and other required infrastructure. He suggested that the mismatch between the urban and rural education should be addressed.
Dr. Vinay P. Sahashrabuddhe of the BJP criticized the then UPA government for bringing out the bill without any foresight and for cheap popularity. He said any right cannot be made available to the beneficiary without having requisite needs.
He said the condition of primary education is very pathetic and there is an urgent need to improve it. He expressed concern over the closure of informal schools as they are considered illegal under the Right to Education.