Many children remain out of school despite RTE Act: Report

Even after 14 years of the enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, (RTE Act-2009), not all children are attending schools, revealed a status report titled “Implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009: Where do we stand.” This was released by the Right to Education Cell (RTE Cell) and the Council for Social Development (CSD) of New Delhi.

Citing data of the Rajya Sabha in February 2023 that there are about 9.3 lakh out of schoolchildren at the elementary level and about 3.2 lakh at the secondary level, wherein the highest number of out of school children at the elementary level was found to be in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar, Gujarat and Assam, the report said the a higher proportion of dropouts are at the upper primary level in comparison to the primary levels.

Infrastructure

The effective functioning of schools depends on quality infrastructure, including school buildings, drinking water, functional toilets and boundary wall, as well as learning facilities like libraries, computers and teaching aids. Despite these requirements, many schools still do not meet the norms even after 15 years, said the report. Over 90% of schools have drinking water facilities and boys’ and girls’ toilets, although functionality of the same is still a question in some of the schools, it said.

The infrastructure requirements are not met in the private schools too. The report highlighted that about 2,469 private schools were closed between 2015-2018 and notices for school closure were issued to about 13,546 private schools for non-compliance of RTE norms and standards.

Teacher availability

The report said over the years, there has been significant progress in the availability of teachers, with the number rising from 5.8 million in 2009-10 to a peak of 9.08 million in 2019-20, before declining to 8.9 million in 2021-22 after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the 2016-17 data of U-DISE indicates that about 5 lakh schools did not have the requisite number of teachers as per the RTE norm, which was to the extent of 34.4%. Despite the overall increase in teacher numbers, there are still about 7.4 lakh vacant teacher positions against a sanctioned strength of 48.1 lakh.

“While the government has implemented measures to train unqualified teachers, significant challenges remain. According to a UNESCO report, 15% of teachers in government schools and 30% in private unaided schools are still unqualified,” it added.

Financing RTE Implementation

“The funding ratio between the Union government and States was 65:35 until 2014-15, which then changed to 60:40 and the ratio was 90:10 for the north-eastern and Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Since the time of the Kothari Commission report, it has been recommended that government spending on education should be 6% of GDP. In 2007-08, combined spending by the Union and state governments was 3.7% of GDP. By 2009-10, the Union government’s education budget was 0.76% of GDP, after which there has only been a decline. By 2021-22, Union spending had dropped to 0.34% of GDP and for the year 2024-25, it stands at 0.37%,” the report said.

Published - November 04, 2024 10:45 pm IST