Urban News

This is the first recommendation of the committee set up by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on ‘Development of a Policy Framework for Implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009’ in the NCT of Delhi.

According to the committee, all state-run schools should be administered by “one unified body and its schools managed with due regard to decentralisation of responsibility”.

The committee was formed by the NCERT in January to develop the policy framework to implement the Act in Delhi that will be notified from April.

It further recommends that the body — the Delhi government — “should also accord approval to all proposed academic changes, such as in textbooks, pattern of evaluation and medium of instruction. It should also be referred to for closure of any school”.

The committee, which has come up with 29-point framework, also recommends converting double-shift schools to single-shift ones. It also lays emphasis on teachers’ salaries and recognition of “small schools” and recommends implementation of government salaries for teachers in private schools recognised under the RTE Act and “consideration of grants in exceptional cases for payment of salaries of teachers.”

The committee says “where a government or MCD or NDMC school is witnessing declining enrollment, or the pupil-teacher ratio is lower than 1:30, this should be taken into consideration before giving recognition to another unaided private school within one km radius” of the school.

Another recommendation factors in the lack of teachers in schools. “To ensure a class is not deprived of a teacher, it is recommended that about 10 per cent extra teachers are selected and placed on a reserve panel to be tapped whenever there is need for a substitute teacher.”

To check the dropout rate among children, it proposes to provide incentives of about Rs 50 to children who help identify those students who are not attending classes or are not enrolled in the school.

Regarding the issuance of birth certificates, the panel says, “Birth certification is the right of a child, and those children who enter the state-run schools without a formal birth certificate should be provided a certificate through the school.” It goes on to say that “the government may bring an amendment in the Birth and Death Registration Act thereby creating an obligation on the state to provide birth certificate to the school children. This should be made a duty of the school. It also supports the UID project of the Central government”.

Other recommendations
* Traffic marshals, drawn from the National Cadet Cops and National Service Scheme, to assist students
* Safety and security, especially of girl students, by establishing police beats with women constables at schools
* Unified website for all state and state-recognised schools in Delhi. The website will provide information regarding results along with remarks and reports of the progress of students
* No fee should be charged from the students of elementary schools
* Principals of 75 per cent schools should be selected through direct recruitment; 25 per cent through limited departmental examination
* Strengthen the State Council of Educational Research and Training and District Institute of Educational and Training in Delhi.