There are number of resolutions, declarations, conventions and Acts to protect the interest of the children of our country but these are only remaining in policy documents. Millennium Development Goals and Dakar declaration were the footprints to actualize that children in our country are well-nourished, well-educated and protected by 2015 but there is a need of muscular effort to scroll up the point mark in order to reach to the commitment where India is a signatory.

Now, Right to Education Act has come which ensures free and quality education for  those who are under the age 6 to 14.In this Act, there is also a provision of 25% reservation of seats in private schools for the economically disadvantaged section society but Odisha hardly has any example of such enrolment.

The common perception and practical outcome in school education system and management of educational information are the basic challenges for the education department. The primary school of Pratappur Panchayat coming under Bhubaneswar Education District runs with 1 teacher for 80 students. In Tihidi block, the figure seems worse with 4 contractual teachers running the school with 430 students. On the one hand, the department is busy furnishing cosmetic measures to improve quality education but the ground reality that worsen Educational Development Index (EDI) needs to be looked at imperatively.

Subhashree Das,Bhubaneswar

by e-mail

The New Indian Express