8 million children still out of school in RTE Act first year - April 1 is the first anniversary of implementation of RTE Act

New Delhi: The Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act which promises free and compulsory education to all children between the age six to 14, on Friday completed a year since its implementation. However, the fact that more than eight million children are still out of school shows that a lot more needs to be done.

Releasing the RTE report card in the capital on Friday, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said: "It's unfortunate that 81,50,619 children in the age group of six to 14 are still out of school. We have to bring all those children to school."

The report which analyzed the overall primary education scenario of the country, said that the total enrollment in the primary level in 2009-10 was 13,34,05,581 while in the upper primary level it was 5,44,67,415.

The percentage of girls enrolled in the primary level was 48.46 percent while in the upper primary level it was 48.12 percent.

The total number of elementary schools, government and aided, in 2009-10 was 11,20,968. And the total number of teachers was 44,77,429.

"21 percent teachers were found to be without professional qualification and nine percent schools were with a single teacher," Sibal said, citing the report.

"It was found that 508,000 additional teachers are required and in 2010 we approved the recruitment of 455,000 teachers," he added.

According to Sibal, the real problem now is no longer access to education but its quality.

"Access to education is no longer the real problem now, it's quality of education and for that we have set parameters under the RTE Act like infrastructure in schools, pupil-teacher ratio and professionally qualified teachers," he said.

The student classroom ratio across the country was found to 32:1. As many as 93 percent schools were found to have drinking water facility, 59 percent with girls toilet and 47 percent with ramps for the benefit of physically disadvantaged children.

Some of the not so encouraging figures came as far as the notification of rules in the states was concerned - 15 states had notified the rules and only 11 had constituted state commissions for protection of child rights, meant to monitor implementation of the Act.

"However the level of commitment in the states is good. This is just the first year, things will be even better next year," Sibal said.

Sounding excited about the latest census data, Sibal went on to say that India will be completely literate by the year 2020.

"The Millenium Development Goal says that India should achieve literacy rate of 72 percent by 2015 but we have already gone ahead of that figure. The census datasays that our literacy rate is 74.4 percent," he said.

"What is even more encouraging is that the female literacy rate has gone up by 12 percent," he added.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Today/8_million_children_still_out_of_school_in_RTE_Act_first_year__-_April_1_is_the_first_anniversary_of_implementation_of_RTE_Act_13789/

GMR 2011: Armed conflict stalls EFA progress

Armed conflict is destroying the hopes and aspirations of generations of children, youth and adults on a previously undocumented scale, reveals the 2011 edition of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR).

‘The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education’ report reveals that armed conflict is a major obstacle to achieving global EFA goals and the impact of armed conflicts on education represents a ‘hidden crisis’ that reinforces poverty, limits economic growth, and destabilises the development of countries.

While acknowledging progress made so far – 52 million additional children of primary school age have enrolled into school between 1999 and 2008 – the GMR also notes that 67 million children remain out of school, while 796 million adults – two-thirds of them women – continue to be denied access to basic literacy skills.

In addition to these startling figures, EI is also concerned about the teacher gap of 1.9 million professionals who are needed to achieve universal primary education by 2015, and the potentially negative impact of the emerging trend for governments in many countries to hire unqualified or under-qualified teachers

The GMR reveals 42 per cent of out-of-school children live in conflict-affected countries. The scope and breadth of systematically violent attacks on schools, students and teachers, including sexual violence against girls and women, the recruitment of child-soldiers, continues unabated in far too many parts of the globe. The consequence is an increased fear among children about attending school, reluctance among parents to send their children to school, and a perennial fear among teachers about the repercussions of delivering their lessons.

The GMR also paints a stark picture of the state of education in refugee camps. Education remains the most neglected area of an under-financed and unresponsive humanitarian aid system, while many countries refuse refugees access to public education or other basic services.

Conversely, military expenditure is diverting aid resources from many donor countries. The GMR observes that 21 developing countries currently spend more on arms than on primary schools. If they cut military spending by 10 per cent, they would be able to provide 9.5 million more children with school places. The GMR also reveals that it would take just six days of rich countries’ total military expenditure to close the US$16 billion EFA external financing gap per year.

The targeting of civilians by statutory and non-statutory parties involved in armed conflict, the mis-use of school facilities to instill intolerance and prejudice, or to spread endemic violence are clearly violations of international law and the ethos of education.

EI insists that all schools, learners, teachers and support staff should be protected from violent conflict and attack, and supports the GMR recommendation that attacks on children and teachers should be documented, with perpetrators of heinous crimes prosecuted.

EI also agrees that education has the potential to act as a powerful force for resolution and argues that schools should promote peace-building, national healing and tolerance.

Commenting on the 2011 GMR, EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, said: “Schools must be safe sanctuaries or safe havens that guarantee the peace and security of all children, girls and boys, teachers and support staff and communities.

“EI is urging every member organization to lobby their national government, the UN and the international community to ensure that schools, learners and teachers are protected from violent conflict and attack.”

EI has joined UNESCO, UNICEF, Save the Children and other partners in the Global Coalition for Protecting Education from Attacks, to raise awareness of threats to education, to cultivate public support for safe education, and to strengthen existing monitoring and reporting systems.

source:http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1540&theme=educationforall&country=global