From Our Correspondent
TURA: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma on Friday launched the ‘Shiksha Ka Haq Abhiyan’, the community awareness and mobilization campaign on Right to Education Act, 2009 at Chandmari playground, Tura in the presence of C&RD Minister Saleng Sangma, Chief Secretary WMS Pariat, Secretary, Education Department FR Kharkongor among others.
The launching of the campaign appropriately coincides with the National Education Day observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of India. The corner stone of his education policy emphasized on educating the rural poor especially girls and universal primary education free and compulsory for all children upto the age of 14.
The vision of Maulana Azad was achieved with the enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsary Education Act, 2009 which makes education a fundamental right of every child between the age of 6 and 14.
Under the Act it requires all private schools to reserve 25 per cent of seats for children from poor families which will be reimbursed by the State as part of the public private partnership plan.
It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice and makes provision for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education among other provisions.
Speaking at the launching of the awareness campaign on Right to Education Act, Dr Sangma said that the awareness campaign will enlighten the people especially the parents and the policy makers about the provisions of the Right to Education Act and also will enable the State Government to gear up for the implementation of the RTE in the State taking into consideration the different aspects of the Act and its implications.
Dr Sangma said that the three major issues of education in the State is access, equity and quality which needs to be addressed in a holistic manner to ensure that the system of education and research not only contribute to nation building but also create a knowledgeable society with values of sustainability.
The Chief Minister also informed that in order to institutionalize implementation of the RTE Act, posts of Joint Directors of School Education have been created in each and every district, mapping of schools by GIS mapping covering a total of 12,794 schools all over the State.
He also informed that as a quality improvement initiative, ‘No detention policy’ has been notified and continuous and comprehensive evaluation is being introduced in all schools. He also said that teacher recruitment policy is being revised as per the National Council of Teachers Education and that all teachers need to be trained and VRS is being offered to untrainable teachers.
Dr Sangma said that the RTE rules set minimum standard for infrastructure facilities in schools which is the biggest challenge for the State. He also informed that the State Government is committed to make all schools compliant with the standards and affirm that the child-centered RTE will be fully implemented in Meghalaya by 2013.
Dr Sangme expressed confidence that with the RTE in place, it will enable the parents to equip their children with the right instrument to face the era of globalization which is competitive in all respects.
“We should create an enabling environment for our children and the parents have a very important role to play in developing the skills and knowledge of their children and make them compatible with the change,” he added.
A message from the Prime Minister on the occasion was also read out to the people.