Right To Education

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FAQ

FAQs are frequently asked questions on Right to Education Act by various stakeholders such as Parents, Children, School Owners, Principals, Administrators, Teachers, Government officials.
FAQs have been categorised stakeholder-wise and topic-wise.

Who will provide speacial training or remedial classes for children to be able to be in an age appropriate class?

It is the responsibilty of the government(or school) to provide the special classes, as far as possible within the school premises itself, so that the child can feel a part of the school in which he/she is enrolled.

How is the ‘school’ defined?

Under section 2(n) of the Act, four categories are defined:
(i) funded and managed by the government or local authority,
(ii) private but aided by the government or local authority,
(iii) schools defined under special category, like Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sainik School, school under the Central Tibetan Schools Association and similar others, and
(iv) private schools receiving no aid from the government or local authority.

If a 13 year old child wants to join a school, will she be asked to leave in one year when she attains 14 years of age?

No. The Act guarantees the completion of elementary education. It means therefore that the child can continue to study till she has completed class 8, irrespective of her age at that time.

What is meant by neighbourhood school?

‘Neighbourhood school’ means the nearest primary/upper primary school within walking distance from the child’s residence.

The neighbourhood school concept relates to availability of a school within safe and accessible distance from the habitation where a child lives. The Act defines the limits of neighbourhood schools as 1 km walking distance from the habitation of a child at the primary level (class 1 to 5) and within 3km walking distance for upper primary level (class 6 to 8).

However, under the Kerala Rules, in places with difficult terrain, risk of landslides, floods etc., small hamlets or habitations where no school exists, this limit may be reduced and the state will make adequate arrangements for providing elementary education.

The Government has to ensure availability of neighbourhood school for all children within 3 years of the implementation of the Act.

What if the teacher remains absent or does not teach properly?

Disciplinary action can be taken against the teacher (Section 24(2)). Under Model Rules 18(2) (a), it is prescribed that the service rules of teachers should mandate the accountability of teachers to the School Management Committees.

Who will enforce standards of teacher trainings?

Under Section 7(6b), the central government shall ‘develop and enforce standards for training of teachers’.

Since children will advance even if they are not learning won't it affect the quality of education?

This is a common perception since it is difficult to see beyond the centuries old custom and culture of failing and expelling children. That the learning level of a child who is punished by failure at any time in the elementary stage shall improve the next year has no educational or research backing. If at all, the social stigma of failure, particularly for a child coming from a poor home is more likely to ensure that the failed child shall drop off from the next year. It is a method to weed out children who are harshly judged for being ‘weak’ or ‘dull’, which may have a lot to do with the learning environment of the school, the psychological and coping stress on the child, rather than any innate deficiency in the child. More often, failure and expulsion of the child hides the deficiencies of the learning environment of the class room. That is why the CCE, which continuously monitors the learning levels of the child and helps in timely intervention is far superior educationally to annual or board examination based punishments of failure and expulsions. CCE also takes into account the interests, abilities and talents of the child beyond the school subjects that must be recorded while issuing the completion certificate at the end of the elementary stage (see also Q71). Properly implemented, CCE will ensure that children do not advance without learning better than mindless testing of children. Private schools in particular use the failure and expulsion route to weed out what they call ‘dull’ and ‘weak’ in order to keep their school brand at a premium to charge more fees. The Act attempts to prohibit this malpractice, which has been upheld by the Delhi High Court decision in relation to a prominent private school of Delhi, mentioned previously.

What about existing teachers in existing schools that do not meet these qualifications?

Those teachers that can be trained and brought up to the standards set up by the Academic Authority can be retained and provided the adequate training to enable them to be at par within the 5 years that is required to comply with the norms of the Act.

On what basis can recognition be granted to schools?

The procedure of granting recognition to private schools varies from state to state. Please refer to the respective state RTE Rules.

By when do the pupil-teacher ratio norms have to be in place?

The PTR has to be in place within 6 months of the Act coming into force. The other norms have to be in place within 3 years.

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