New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) Members of parliament, while expressing appreciation for the landmark Right to Education (RTE) Act, Saturday called for further reforms in the school education system in the country, the human resource development ministry said.
“Many members of parliament gave their views regarding the Act. Most members, while appreciative of this landmark initiative, were of the view that the actual implementation of the Act will face challenges, especially in terms of monitoring and accountability, retention of poor students, teacher quality and absenteeism, ability of states to finance the implementation of the Act and adequate infrastructure,” the ministry said Saturday after a neeting of parliament’s consultative committee for the human resource development ministry.

Committee member D. Raja called for strengthening the government school system and said that attempts must be made to build a common school system. Another member, Mohammed Shafi, suggested that states be categorized as per their requirements for RTE.

While members Sucharu Ranjan Haldar and Kabindra Purkayastha wanted to know how it would be ensured that all children go to school, Vasanthi Stanley wanted clarity on the provisions for differently-abled children.

Two members, Jagdanand Singh and Rama Devi wanted parents and guardians to be given the right to evaluate teachers.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told the committee that with 93 percent of the schools in the country being government-run, the main purpose of the Act was to improve the quality of the government school system.

The minister underlined that the provision in the Act of school management committees with 50 percent women would ensure the schools’ monitoring.

Speaking about differently-abled children, Sibal said the government’s policy was to encourage inclusive education. He said the RTE Act would be notified after the sharing pattern of finances between the centre and the states is decided by the government.