This also worries Saleem Khan, who
runs the Saaras Foundation based in
Lucknow. “If this could be addressed,
50 per cent of the loopholes could be
plugged,” he says.
The other inadequacy of the Act has
been that despite provisions, schools
are lacking in qualified teachers. Many
schools have been unable to meet the
teacher-student ratio required by the
act, although the percentage of schools
complying with the RTE-mandated pu-
pil-teacher ratio almost doubled since
2010, rising from 38.9 to 76.2 per cent
in 2018, according to ASER.
There was an imminent need to ad-
dress the “flat learning curve for the
child throughout later stages of school-
ing, not enabling social inclusion, un-
certainty after class 8 for kids in public
schools,” sums up Tarun Cherukuri,
co-founder of the Indus Action Group,
a non-profit organization working
to ensure compliance with section
12(1)(c) of the RTE law.
“Now that the government has
largely succeeded in ensuring quan-
tity, the next intervention focal point
should be on quality. So yes, RTE had
to start with being Right to Enrolment,
but now the time has come to move
towards RTE being Right to (Quality)
Education,” Cherukuri added.
That way, learning outcomes would
improve significantly and children
like Umra, Arhaan’s sister, and
millions of others who have been
denied their rights so far, can be
included in its fold.RTE in Numbers
QAccording to data from the District
Information System for Education (DISE),
the state fill rate—the share of available
seats filled by the mandate—has
increased from 14.66 per cent in
2013–14 to 15.12 per cent in 2014– 15QThe number of participating schools
admitting at least one student under the
mandate has increased from 44,158 in
2013–14 to 45,996 in 2014–15.
QThe Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for
all persons in elementary education
increased from 81.6 per cent in 2000–01
to 96.9 per cent (provisional figure)
in 2014–15.QThe GER for boys and girls increased
by 4.5 (from 90 per cent to 94 per cent)
and 26.4 (from 72 per cent to 99 per
cent) percentage points respectively
during the stipulated period.
QRTE Act’s Section 12(1)(c) reserves
2.2 millions seats across India.
Q1.5 million out of the 2.2 million seats
go vacant every year74 august 2019
INDIAPICTUREReader’s Digest National Interest