HAIL SIBAL..!!!

The right to education act of the constitution promises compulsory education for all children in the age group six to fifteen years within ten years of its implementation.

It's been ages and nothing happened. But finally i see a ray of hope, thanks to Sibal.

Only the educated can realize how huge a blessing it is to hold that black and white sheet that displays your marks statement.

The right to education act is a revolutionary act. Apart from making education compulsory for kids aged between 6 and 14, 25% of the seats in all schools, private included will be reserved for the disadvantaged lot. The latter idea has been given ample thought. One might argue that the disadvantaged kids might fall prey peer pressure in most private schools. However, this process is applicable only to admissions for standard one, starting in the year 2011. Kids don't understand caste, status, colour or creed. They don't worry like adults. A child that age traveling to school in a BMW will willingly hug his friend who takes a public bus on the other hand. He wouldn't mind inviting him to his b'day party either. The next induction will in the school will take place next year again for class one. Thus, it will actually take 12 years for the 25% to be filled in and no one is harmed. NO peer pressure. Everyone study and grow together from the beginning. That's slow. But definitely, well thought.

1.72 lac crores have been invested towards this act for the next five years..Science and maths syllabus will be common to schools across the country. The point not to be missed here is that we are talking about the core syllabus here and not the teaching style or the books. Common entrance exams will be held on the lines of SAT for admissions to professional courses. Good idea again.

One interesting finding as i read through the Act is that schools collecting donations will be fined ten times the same amount if caught. I know a school here in Bangalore where parents willingly shell out huge sums of money for a single seat. The seats are literally auctioned. There are many such schools across the country, i'm sure. I wonder if things that happen under the table can ever be curbed.

Coming back, the teacher student ratio has been limited to 1:30 and the minimum working hours for a teacher has been defined to be 45 hrs per week.

Only seven percent of the schools in India fall under the government category. The remaining whooping 93% are private schools.

To make India powerful, we need to invest in our future, our children. We need to set a system in place. We need to find ways to tackle prime reasons for low literacy rates like education a girl child or preventing dropouts.

Infrastructure has to be upgraded. The number of classrooms need to be appropriate. A lot of children still write their board examinations being seated on the floor. If this is the state in a city like bangalore, you can imagine how things could be in say, Bihar or Arunachal Pradesh.

Separate toilets for boys and girls is a primary requirement and should be made mandatory in schools. A tidy kitchen where drinking water and nutritious food is served can do wonders to attract the disadvantaged.

Proper schools must be designed keeping in mind the nature of terrain, the nature of population and its movement. In this way, we can wean away those who are trapped in child labour. Most importantly, the teachers must do what they are there for. They must teach! I feel really sorry for teachers. We really have to take their responsibility for the simple reason that they take responsibility of our children and on the whole of our nation.The profession needs to be made attractive and respectful. People have to be sensitized about the role of a teacher in building a society. They need to be allowed some freedom. housing loans, life insurance et all must be entailed to those who take up this profession.

The Delhi state government passed a law that ensures equal salaries to both private and government school teachers. More such laws are welcome.

The education system needs to pay focus to quality. The concept of free and compulsory education means an education that is free for the child and compulsory for the state. We really need to understand this. For this act to be clearly effective, many factors need to be supportive like for example, inflation needs to come down.

This act will do what it has been designed for only if all stake holders- parents, friends, neighbours, school managements, panchayat, state govts and teachers work together as a group and not as a single entity. Success of the Right to Education Act means the empowerment of over 220 million kids of our country.

Let's hope India shines!

Love,

Ishma

TAnk buNd RoAd.. An aWefuL SiGHt

Bangalore! I prefer to call it that way... Bengaluru doesn't sound uru types at all... It's so halli types..!

My city.. The best place to be! Though I love it, it's not like i'm obsessed with it. Mumbai follows immediately. I have been to Mumbai twice and loved every aspect of it. The vada pav, cutting chai, the ever joshilay and mast junta, their pace of life, the hospitality of people and their ability to make you feel at home(something I craved for in our rajdhani Dilli.. no offence intended...), the hustle bustle and of course, the local trains! Apart from that, it is home to most of my favorite musical maestros and the city I will be in if I take up singing as a full time profession sometime...

I sometimes tend to deviate from the point. So coming back to Bangalore, my focus today is one particular place called Tank Bund Road… The locality that lies parallel to the railway tracks that lead to Kengeri. To be more precise, the binny mill road. I don't know why i'm being so particular in making sure you know which place this is. May be I believe that some day, someone who can really do something about the issue i'm going to talk about will read my blog and take an action...

This place is a mess and one of the oldest slums of the city. I have travelled to Mysore many times by train and every time I see the plight of people and their houses in this locality, it makes me wonder how they survive in such deplorable conditions. What is more miserable is that there are no sanitation facilities here. Toilets neither have doors nor water supply. There seems to be nobody who takes up responsibility to maintain the existing ones. It's sad that women have to wake up before sunrise to answer the nature's call. The old have no shelter even in the rain. The contaminated air and water leaves several children weak and sick. Infact, there have been many deaths on the tracks when people have gone out to answer the nature's call. The place is such an unpleasant sight.

A little more probing, and I got to know that political leaders promise health care facilities, sanitation and a lot more to the residents of this area and don't turn up post elections... They forget all they promises irrespective of whether they win or lose! As far as the community welfare meetings are concerned, they often are either exchange of blows or words. Some residents say that they feel like they are living in hell.

Rajiv Gandhi's drinking water mission was an outstanding scheme. But the number of toilets to be built as per the project was limited. However, a nation wide survey conducted during 96-97 has revealed that even poorest of the poor are willing to participate in the implementation of such programmes, and to contribute towards operation & maintenance and part of the capital cost provided, reliable service is given and maintained. I strongly oppose the Indian Government's policy that denies any kind of facilities to unauthorized localities. India is a very large country with even larger problems and I suggest atleast temporary arrangements be done even in unauthorized localities like the Tank Bund road slum.

Dr. Bhindeshwar Pathak's sulabh shauchalay scheme has been successful all over the country. People willingly pay Re 1/- in these toilets. The Nirmala toilet was another such programme started by the Infosys foundation. Such schemes must be encouraged by the government.

Cleanliness is a personal issue. Sanitation is not only about the disposal of human waste. It is also about dignity and self respect. Infact, if given a serious thought, Sanitation can be serious business. Unemployed youth in villages can be trained to build, run and maintain toilets and baths. Doordarshan is an excellent medium to spread awareness about healthy sanitation and it's benefits. Apart from providing a secure place for women and elderly, provision of good sanitation facilities will lead to better health conditions of children, there by saving huge sums of money that could go into the treatment of diseases. Building public toilets could also inspire many to make their own toilets and baths. It could also encourage people to come together to work towards the betterment of their surroundings. This could further lead to them working towards other issues like clean drinking water facilities, environment conservation, household waste disposal etc.

There are enough resources available in our country. There is international support too. All that is required is a well planned national campaign that needs to be taken seriously.
I am sure there must be many other localities like the tank Bund road slum in India. I hope, we fully overcome such pitiful conditions atleast in another fifteen years and each one of us gets to live in dignity.