NEW DELHI: Certain education related decisions by the Delhi government have invited dissent by a group of Right To Education (RTE) activists.
A dozen educationists and activists, including former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Shantha Sinha, have raised concerns over the deletion of Section 10(1) of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and the removal of non-detention policy. The statement said "the government has done away with pay parity of teachers and other employees of recognised private schools with those of government schools. This shall immensely conflict with the right to equality, as it shall neutralize any significant gains the teachers have made to evolve as recognized professionals. Also, such an act contributes strongly to the dilution of quality of education.
Talking about removal of NDP, or Section 16 of the Right to Education Act 2009, it said that it shall be highly demotivating for the students, and may force them out of school. Instead, the expectation is to give students a disruption-free environment for studying, where they could learn and move ahead with minimal pressure. The Delhi government is looked upon as an example by the people of the state, while carrying huge set of expectations from it. It must work towards alleviating ignorance, and lead a revolution of social transformation. Hence, the government should take back the above degenerating measures, and preserve the existing provisions in favor of children's Right To Education.
Apart from Sinha, the statement has been signed and backed by Babu Mathew, John Kurien, Pravin Mahajan, Ashok Agarwal, Dayaram, Venkat Reddy, Dipa Dixit, Suryakant Kulkarni, G. Ganesan, Suraj Kumar, KalyanDangar and Lalit Babar.