7-Jan-2010
Dear Mr. Sibal,
I have some queries regarding Right to Education Bill
1. Bill says compulsory education of all children between ages 6 to 14 years. This is a most welcome statement. But I have few concerns
a. When a father will take his 10 year son to work with him, how will you stop that? You cannot arrest the father.
b. When a half fed or starved child will refuse to go to school, what will you do? Mid day meal program is a big failure.
I think government should pay Rs 10 per student for each day of attending school. It might cost Rs 10,000 crore annually, but it will be a great incentive for parents to send their children to school.
2. Out-of-school children to be admitted to a class appropriate to their age, with special training to help them.a. Do you have any data on how many students require special training?
b. How the special training will be imparted - one-to-one or in a group?
There are millions of students who require special training. We do not have that many teachers. Why can't we use our under graduate students for such special training for 2 weeks in a year. Each under graduate students will spend 2 weeks in some village every year to train a group of 20 school drop outs. Each drop out student must get at least 10 such 2-week special training in a year.
3. Children will not be held back, expelled, or required to pass through a board examination until Class 8a. Can you implement it in reputed schools?
I think same syllabus is not suitable for all students. We should have two standards in CBSE/ICSE/state boards, one for brilliant students and other for average students. Up to class VI all students should follow same syllabus. Bifurcation should start from Class VII.
I do agree that students should not be held back or expelled. But abolition of board exam may not be a good idea. In mid eighties Mr. Promod Dasgupta, the then chairman of left front in WB stopped teaching of English in primary school. Twenty years later CPM leaders realized their mistake and restored English in primary school. A generation was lost by then.
I think whole examination system should be revamped.
1. Question paper should be randomly generated for each student.
2. 20% of the questions should come from the chapters of her/his choice. Each subject should have predefined set of chapters.
3. 30% of the questions should come from question bank
4. Student can take exam any day any time from 9am to 5pm on any subject within a period of 40 days
5. Student can appear for any exam more than once during that 40 days window.
6. Questions should be comprised of multi choice and open ended.
4. Within three years of the commencement of the Act, the state government is expected to establish a school in every neighborhood.
a. How do you ensure that all neighborhood schools maintain a minimum standard?
b. Definition of neighborhood school is not yet defined. India has 600,000 villages. Eighty percent of them have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. Do you intend to establish one school in each village?
c. What will happen if state government does not establish a school in three years?
d. What will happen to those schools which have poor infrastructure?
I think there should be a strict guideline on size of classroom, number of students in each section, student teacher ratio, quality of table, chair, blackboard, computer facility, internet bandwidth, LCD TV in each class room, use of educational software, library, size of playground, facility for indoor game like badminton, table tennis, basketball, school bus facility. Each school should focus on at least two sports with trained coach. Lecture of eminent teachers may be video streamed through internet.
Guideline should be given on design of school building with respect to number of levels, number of classrooms, toilets, auditorium and indoor game area, swimming pool, overall ambience etc. We should try to create a brand image.
5. Teacher standards, including minimum qualifications, to be enforced This is the greatest challenge. There will be a shortage of teachers. Every graduate, post graduate and engineers with good academic result must spend at least 1 year as a teacher in these schools before taking up other profession.
6. Maintain records of all children up to 14 years of ageThis is not an easy task. Biometric id and CCTV in each class will help to monitor proper attendance by both students and teachers. CCTV will also help to evaluate quality of teaching remotely.
7. All schools have to form a School Management Committee (SMC), comprising of parents, guardians, and elected representatives, with 50 per cent seats in it reserved for women.
The SMC will monitor the working of the school, prepare a development plan, and monitor fund utilisation.
In every locality there should be a panel of educationist. Panel should be created by an independent body. There must be a minimum qualification and experience required for the individual to be part of the panel. SMC should be formed from the members of that panel in rotation. Tenure of the SMC should be 2 years. Elected representation is not required. Active members of political parties, MP, MLA and other elected members should not be part of SMC. Why do you want to reserve 50% seats for women? Can you really meet the number?
8. Government schools to provide free education to all. Aided schools to provide free education proportionate to their funding, subject to a minimum of 25 per cent. All unaided schools to provide free education to 25 per cent of students from disadvantaged groups. Fee will be reimbursed by the state government to these schools. Funding is one of the critical success factors of this bill. Corporate houses must play a big role. Funding consists of one time investment on proper infrastructure and maintenance cost. I think we should take multiple measures to raise the fund
1. Corporate should sponsor one school for every 5000 employee or one college for every 10,000 employee.
2. Everyone earning more than Rs 10,000 per month must spend 3% of his earning on education.
3. Central and all state government together should spend USD 20 billion on education every year
9. School to maintain minimum standards on number of teachers, school building, number of working days, per week working hours, library, and sports & games equipment.
There should be a central agency like national highway authority that should look after infrastructure of all government aided schools. We should introduce bachelor and master degree on sports like bachelor of football. Such graduates can be groomed as coaches in future. Currently we have a huge shortfall of quality teachers. Ministry of human resource should produce educational video based on curriculum for each class. Such video may be played in the class.
Doordarshan should broadcast separate educational channel for each class.
10. No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment by teachers/officials.CCTV should be made compulsory in each class room.
Dear Mr. Sibal,
I have some queries regarding Right to Education Bill
1. Bill says compulsory education of all children between ages 6 to 14 years. This is a most welcome statement. But I have few concerns
a. When a father will take his 10 year son to work with him, how will you stop that? You cannot arrest the father.
b. When a half fed or starved child will refuse to go to school, what will you do? Mid day meal program is a big failure.
I think government should pay Rs 10 per student for each day of attending school. It might cost Rs 10,000 crore annually, but it will be a great incentive for parents to send their children to school.
2. Out-of-school children to be admitted to a class appropriate to their age, with special training to help them.a. Do you have any data on how many students require special training?
b. How the special training will be imparted - one-to-one or in a group?
There are millions of students who require special training. We do not have that many teachers. Why can't we use our under graduate students for such special training for 2 weeks in a year. Each under graduate students will spend 2 weeks in some village every year to train a group of 20 school drop outs. Each drop out student must get at least 10 such 2-week special training in a year.
3. Children will not be held back, expelled, or required to pass through a board examination until Class 8a. Can you implement it in reputed schools?
I think same syllabus is not suitable for all students. We should have two standards in CBSE/ICSE/state boards, one for brilliant students and other for average students. Up to class VI all students should follow same syllabus. Bifurcation should start from Class VII.
I do agree that students should not be held back or expelled. But abolition of board exam may not be a good idea. In mid eighties Mr. Promod Dasgupta, the then chairman of left front in WB stopped teaching of English in primary school. Twenty years later CPM leaders realized their mistake and restored English in primary school. A generation was lost by then.
I think whole examination system should be revamped.
1. Question paper should be randomly generated for each student.
2. 20% of the questions should come from the chapters of her/his choice. Each subject should have predefined set of chapters.
3. 30% of the questions should come from question bank
4. Student can take exam any day any time from 9am to 5pm on any subject within a period of 40 days
5. Student can appear for any exam more than once during that 40 days window.
6. Questions should be comprised of multi choice and open ended.
4. Within three years of the commencement of the Act, the state government is expected to establish a school in every neighborhood.
a. How do you ensure that all neighborhood schools maintain a minimum standard?
b. Definition of neighborhood school is not yet defined. India has 600,000 villages. Eighty percent of them have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. Do you intend to establish one school in each village?
c. What will happen if state government does not establish a school in three years?
d. What will happen to those schools which have poor infrastructure?
I think there should be a strict guideline on size of classroom, number of students in each section, student teacher ratio, quality of table, chair, blackboard, computer facility, internet bandwidth, LCD TV in each class room, use of educational software, library, size of playground, facility for indoor game like badminton, table tennis, basketball, school bus facility. Each school should focus on at least two sports with trained coach. Lecture of eminent teachers may be video streamed through internet.
Guideline should be given on design of school building with respect to number of levels, number of classrooms, toilets, auditorium and indoor game area, swimming pool, overall ambience etc. We should try to create a brand image.
5. Teacher standards, including minimum qualifications, to be enforced This is the greatest challenge. There will be a shortage of teachers. Every graduate, post graduate and engineers with good academic result must spend at least 1 year as a teacher in these schools before taking up other profession.
6. Maintain records of all children up to 14 years of ageThis is not an easy task. Biometric id and CCTV in each class will help to monitor proper attendance by both students and teachers. CCTV will also help to evaluate quality of teaching remotely.
7. All schools have to form a School Management Committee (SMC), comprising of parents, guardians, and elected representatives, with 50 per cent seats in it reserved for women.
The SMC will monitor the working of the school, prepare a development plan, and monitor fund utilisation.
In every locality there should be a panel of educationist. Panel should be created by an independent body. There must be a minimum qualification and experience required for the individual to be part of the panel. SMC should be formed from the members of that panel in rotation. Tenure of the SMC should be 2 years. Elected representation is not required. Active members of political parties, MP, MLA and other elected members should not be part of SMC. Why do you want to reserve 50% seats for women? Can you really meet the number?
8. Government schools to provide free education to all. Aided schools to provide free education proportionate to their funding, subject to a minimum of 25 per cent. All unaided schools to provide free education to 25 per cent of students from disadvantaged groups. Fee will be reimbursed by the state government to these schools. Funding is one of the critical success factors of this bill. Corporate houses must play a big role. Funding consists of one time investment on proper infrastructure and maintenance cost. I think we should take multiple measures to raise the fund
1. Corporate should sponsor one school for every 5000 employee or one college for every 10,000 employee.
2. Everyone earning more than Rs 10,000 per month must spend 3% of his earning on education.
3. Central and all state government together should spend USD 20 billion on education every year
9. School to maintain minimum standards on number of teachers, school building, number of working days, per week working hours, library, and sports & games equipment.
There should be a central agency like national highway authority that should look after infrastructure of all government aided schools. We should introduce bachelor and master degree on sports like bachelor of football. Such graduates can be groomed as coaches in future. Currently we have a huge shortfall of quality teachers. Ministry of human resource should produce educational video based on curriculum for each class. Such video may be played in the class.
Doordarshan should broadcast separate educational channel for each class.
10. No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment by teachers/officials.CCTV should be made compulsory in each class room.
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