'Lack of political will hampering implementation of RTE Act'

New Delhi: A year after the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the dream of universal education still remains a distant reality for many children due to the lack of political will in the states, experts said on Thursday.

According to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the chief monitoring body of the Act's implementation, only 13 states have notified their state rules.

"Without notification, how can the states implement the RTE Act? Notification of the rules means a financial commitment on behalf of the states, liketeachers' salaries and the like. For this there has to be a political commitment," NCPCR chairperson Shantha Sinha said.

Taking stock of the progress of the RTE Act, she added, "There are drawbacks, including lack of human resources but with political commitment, we can skip timelines to make sure the RTE reaches every child in this country." 

A report taking stock of implementation of RTE in India was presented by the RTE Forum - a coalition of over 25 national civil society organizations and over 10,000 grass roots networks - at the conference.

According to the report, there were several provisions within the Act that had to be fulfilled within the first year, but not much progress has been made.

The report said that while the NCPCR has been mandated with monitoring the implementation of the Act, the body lacks the capacity to do justice.

"The overall shortage of teachers is estimated to be 14 lakh and states like Uttar Pradesh have a huge shortfall of over two lakh vacancies, which have not been filled up due to lack of resources," the report said.

Eight states have less than 50 percent teachers who are professionally qualified, it added.

"Many teachers are not aware about the Act. If we want to get rid of archaic practices like corporal punishment, urgent attention must be given to school based training for teachers," said Ambrish Rai, spokesperson of RTE Forum.

The report said that the school management committees (SMCs), with three-quarter representation from the community, are the first line complaint mechanisms under the RTE Act. However, these have not been formed in most states. 

"This leaves parents and children without a visible place to go if their educational rights are violated," the report said.

The Right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into force from April 1, 2010. According to it, the right to education will be accorded the same legal status as the right to life as provided by the Indian Constitution. Every child in the age group of 6-14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighborhood.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Today/'Lack_of_political_will_hampering_implementation_of_RTE_Act'_13784/

Kalam inspires rural children

Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Saturday interacted with rural students in Masuri town of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, inspiring them through a motivational lecture.

Kalam was the chief guest at Rahat Educational Society in Masuri in an event on developing rural talents. He urged the children to set clear aim for their future and commit themselves to it.

S.M. Khan, director general of Press Information Bureau, presided over the function.

Rahat Educational Society, headed by lawyer Kunwar Ayub Ali, organised the interactive programme to inspire its students on talent development.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Uttar_Pradesh/Kalam_inspires_rural_children_13686/

Bangladesh seeks synergy with Aligarh Muslim University

Bangladesh would like to build strong synergy with the Murshidabad centre of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) because of its locational advantage, and linguistic and cultural affinity, the country's envoy to India says.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tarique A. Kareem was speaking after a meeting here with AMU Vice Chancellor P.K. Abdul Azis.

Kareem said Bangladesh agricultural universities have made remarkable advancements inagricultural research, and as a result farmers are cultivating three crops per annum. This technology could be of immense benefit to the farmers of India, the high commissioner said late Saturday.

Azis assured of all possible help in promoting mutually beneficial initiatives between the varsity and the academic institutions of Bangladesh. Azis invited the visiting dignitary to deliver lectures in the area of conflict resolution and international affairs.

Kareem visited the Maulana Azad Library and was impressed by the manuscripts and the volume of books in the library. He said the AMU must make special efforts to preserve the manuscripts, which are a great heritage of the community.

Librarian Shabahat Husain briefed about the progress the library has made in the direction of acquiring digital books. The library has two lakh digital books and over 13 lakh conventional books. He said the process of setting up a digital resource centre has been initiated.

Describing it as one of the Asia's biggest libraries, he said that five thousand students visit the library daily.

N.A.K. Durrani, media advisor, who had accompanied the high commissioner, observed the Aligarh model of education, which offers education from nursery to post-doctoral level, is a unique example of holistic approach promoting knowledge along with the character building.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Uttar_Pradesh/Bangladesh_seeks_synergy_with_Aligarh_Muslim_University_13684/

AMU holds programme on aspects of female education

The Centre of Adult and ContinuingEducation, Aligarh Muslim University with the collaboration of renowned Hindi literary magazine "Vartaman Sahitya", organized a programme on "Various Aspects of Female Education" at the university. 

On this occasion, the book "Muslim Female Education: From Veils to Moon" by AMU Public Relations Officer, Dr. Rahat Abrar was released. 

Commenting on the book, eminent Hindi critic and former Head of the Department of Hindi, Prof. Pradeep Saxena said that the book written on a serious subject in easy language does not only seek to make an entry in the elite class but it also satisfies the quest for knowledge on the issue among common people. 

Prof. Saxena said that the colonial mentality and ideology is the biggest hindrance in socialdevelopment, which does not allow history to be analyzed rationally. 

The movement initiated by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan sought to free education from the colonial dogmas along with the promotion of modern education, he observed. 

Prof. Saxena said that Dr. Rahat Abrar has written a very informative book on the Muslim female education citing the history of Aligarh Movement that witnessed the contributions of numerous Muslim women of high order. 

While presiding over the programme, former Principal of AMU Women's College and former Director of Women's Study Centre, Prof. Zakia A. Siddiqui said that the killing of female child before or after death is still prevalent in our society. 

The dowry devil is rampant causing destruction of a number of families and female education in India is still a toddler. There is an urgent need of another Sheikh Abdullah who could revive female education movement in order to bring complete awakening in the society, she observed. 

The editor, Vartaman Sahitya, Dr. Namita Singh said that women need to be self dependent economically in order to be empowered and get rid of the chauvinistic clutches of male dominant social order. 

The Director, Adult and Continuing Education, Dr. Mah Seema Masood highlighted the features of informal mode of education and urged the people to adopt a positive outlook to be optimistic in their efforts. 

The Chief Guest and MLC, Mr. Vivek Bansal observed that discrimination against women is an international phenomenon, yet India presents the brightest side of thepicture that the President of Indian republic and Lok Sabha speaker are women and it has had a woman prime minister too. Mr. Bansal said that women have to be educated for all round development of the country. 

Eminent social worker and educationist, Mr. Harnarayan Singh said that a national survey should be made to find out how women's social status is largely determined by their economic condition. 

Conducting the programme, Mr. Ajay Bisaria said that different social organizationscould lead a national movement for female education. He also recited the famouscouplet of great poet Majaz. On this occasion, Salma Kanwal recited a poem dedicated to women.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Uttar_Pradesh/AMU_holds_programme_on_aspects_of_female_education_13692/

IGNOU to train cops in human rights

New Delhi: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) School of Law (SOL), in collaboration with the National Human RightsCommission (NHRC), has launched an online training programme to sensitize police personnel onhuman rights.

The five-day programme was inaugurated for the police academy personnel of Delhi, Haryana andUttar Pradesh by NHRC Chairperson Justice K.G. Balakrishnan at the IGNOU Convention Centre on February 1.

"This activity is an outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between IGNOU and NHRC a few months ago. The main aim of this programme is to sensitize and spread awareness about human rights. With such a programme,IGNOU aims to bring down the rate of conflicts and crime in the society by creating awareness among police personnel," said IGNOU Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai.

While delivering the inaugural address, Justice Balakrishnan said, "It is our basic duty to sensitize people and protect their human rights, and the police play a very important role in the society in maintaining the law and order. NHRC appreciatesIGNOU's efforts in this field. We have launched a basic programme for lower level police personnel in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi andHaryana. The programme is currently available in Hindi and shall be translated into regional languages soon."

Keeping in view the tight schedule of the police personnel, the five-day tailor-made programme aims to equip them with the knowledge of human rights and it can be applied while dealing with the public, said SOL Director Prof K. Elumalai.

The first basic programme was attended by the police personnel in three police academies in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. They had an online interaction with the chairperson and other members of the commission on human rights related issues.

Giving details about the programme, Prof Elumalai said, "On the first three days, participants will be taught six units through interactive lectures using multimedia tools. On the fourth and fifth day, interactive counseling sessions will be held, wherein all the participants and the programme coordinators will interact through web-conferencing."

"Almost 60 to 80 percent of the police personnel are constables and sub-constables and nearly 80 percent of them are just 10th pass. There is a need to make them aware about all the penal laws in the country, along with the legal knowledge," he added.

NHRC member P.C. Sharma said, "The huge number of complaints against police personnel received in the commission compels us to think about the needful steps to be taken to train them, to make them realize their responsibility towards prevention and detection of crime."

Others present at the event included Sunil Krishna, DG, NHRC; Satyabrat Pal, Member, NHRC; K.S. Money, Secretary General, NHRC; and Prof Uma Kanjilal, Director, School of Social Sciences, IGNOU.

SOURCE:http://indiaedunews.net/Delhi/IGNOU_to_train_cops_in_human_rights_13464/