Only 8 per cent schools across the country comply with the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, according to a study by RTE forum, a civil society group, on implementation of the act.
According to the study, India’s spending on education is less than 3 percent of GDP, compared to its obligation of spending 6 percent; and its per capita spending on education is approximately four times less than the spending incurred by middle income countries. While vacancies for the posts of teachers remains to be a serious issue, almost 20 per cent of teachers in India are untrained.
The event, which brought together over 500 people from 15 states to discuss the status of education in the country, saw a national campaign being launched by the forum to make education a critical issue in the upcoming elections.
“There is a need of education for development and that while India has a range of progressive legislations, governments are lethargic in their implementation. While much effort has gone to frame the right to education, slow implementation risks depriving a generation of children of the basic human right to education. I regret that quality of education in India is poor and improvement in learning outcomes is unlikely without filling existing vacant teacher posts,” said Justice Madan B Lokur at the 8th National Stocktaking Convention organised by the civil society on March 27, participated by over 10,000 NGO members from across 20 states.
Posted in National
