While anything may happen in life, you can be assured that no one can ever take your education away from you. The Right to Education Act makes education a fundamental right of every child in this country. Moreover, it is an ambitious move to bridge the divide between the rich and the poor. Educationist Farida Lambay has been familiar with every aspect of the Act right from its inception and is now part of a group responsible for its implementation across the country. While conversing with Neha Ghatpande, Lambay gets candid on the advantages, challenges and implementation of the Act in urban centres, like Mumbai
In mid 2009, the Central government of India passed a very ambitious act which promised every child in this country a right to education. Since its adoption in 2010, the aptly named ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009’, more famously known as the Right to Education Act (RTE), has evoked strong reactions from various sections of society. Most have been sceptical about its practical implementation, especially with regard to the condition that stipulates that even privileged private schools must reserve a quota of seats for children from less privileged backgrounds.
Farida Lambay (60), co-founder, trustee and executive secretary of Pratham, an NGO working in the primary education sector, has been actively participating in the implementation of the act throughout the country. She believes that this act needs to be explained properly, especially in cities like Mumbai, where the divide between the rich and poor is ingrained in the mindset of citizens.
When the state cabinet held a meeting to draft some rules under the RTE last week, many voices were heard against the clause that states that 25 per cent reservation should be provided to underprivileged children in unaided and private schools. Teachers in the city came on record saying that it will be difficult for such children to adjust and assimilate in such environs. But Lambay begs to differ.
“These are all assumptions. A child knows nothing about discrimination till he or she is told about it or influenced through conditioning wither by its parents or by teachers. There are examples wherein children from all strata of society have gotten along really well. In villages, the son of an ordinary farmer sits next to a son of a zamindar. Even I have studied in a municipal school in Mumbai, though at the time, the gulf was narrower than it is today. I think this act can actually help bridge the gap,” declares Lambay, who is part of the National Advisory Council for the implementation of the RTE.
All her life she has been a professional social worker who specialised in the field of primary education. She started her career as a teacher with a municipal school in Mumbai. For the past 35 years, she has been the vice-principal of Nirmala Niketan, the college of social work at Churchgate. She believes that only education can bridge the chasm between the rich and the poor.
“People have been needlessly sceptical since the act was brought in. Many have even moved the courts. Even the government is not really clear at present about the monetary issues involved in its implementation, but as time passes by we will get more clarity,” she adds. Lambay explains the impact of RTE by saying that it can bring together in a classroom the child of a movie star and the child of a housemaid.
“We say that it cannot happen, we claim that it’s impossible, but it is we have to make it possible. We can’t forget that 65 per cent of the population of Mumbai lives in slums,” states Lambay.
RTE essentially focuses on the infrastructure of the school including sports and extra curricular facilities, as well as equality in education. It also gives the responsibility of each and every child deprived of education to the government till he or she finishes elementary education up to standard VIII. But many educationists have raised questions regarding the quality of education that will be provided. “RTE is silent on this aspect. Most of the parents in this city want their children to learn in private schools anyway, because they believe that the education provided by the government schools is inadequate. Though the act may not focus on this particular area, institutions such as National Curriculum Framework have been working to improve the quality of education,” clarifies Lambay.
Lambay has been involved in the process of developing Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) which is a process that makes teachers evaluate children on a regular basis by using different tools and informal activities, and also provides tests that are non paper-pen exercises.
The RTE also talks about inclusion of children in class as per their age, which means a drop out from school will be taken back in a class of his peers and not according to his level of knowledge. “The age aspect can be dealt with by through CCE and by taking specialised classes, but we have to make sure that these children are not singled out, as it will be tantamount to discrimination,” explains Lambay.
With RTE now mandatory, many states have started implementing it. Maharashtra, a state that has made great strides in implementing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, (a scheme that mandated the inclusion of disabled children with regular students) has taken almost a year to carve out a strategy to implement this act. However, it cannot be ignored that this very government has also been promoting privatisation of education via legislations.
Lambay believes that privatisation of education is a global concept and that every government wants it. “The act is mandatory on every state government and so they are bound to implement it. What we need to know today is how the money will come in and how much of it will be spent per child. We also cannot overlook the fact that both the Maharashtra government and the BMC are known to be rich institutions.”
Due to her involvement in teaching children from slums and in curbing child labour in the state, as well as in the implementation of child rights, Lambay firmly believes in universalisation of primary education. She considers RTE as a mission. “We are always sceptical of change. When Right to Information (RTI) Act came about, it was heavily criticised. There is similar resistance towards RTE. Yet, if implemented fully, it can give our children and our nation a bright future.
While nothing in the future is certain, you can be assured that no one can take your education from you,” Lambay concludes.
Narrowing the chasm:
Farida Lambay believes that Right to Education will help bridge the divide between the rich and the poor.
Universality:
According to Lambay, education is a universal right, and by that virtue should be denied to no one.