Is Right to education a goal to improve education system or will it become another looting festival - Part 1
I would like to share few experiences with you, the
statistics provided by the government are far from truth at least on education,
upholding the constitutional validity of the”Right to education as the
fundamental right” is indeed a welcome step towards betterment of elementary
education in the country but there are more questions than answers ,the government
education system collapsing beyond repair ,it needs revolutionary push.
Visiting nearby government school would give you first
hand information than what media reports. They deprived of proper toilets, no
drinking water and the lethargic system welcomes you with closed minds .There
are good teachers too who are ready to work for the betterment but they are in
minority.
I had a chance of
visiting my village high school and I was astonished to see the basic
conditions, nothing has improved since my childhood. There are no toilets in
the schools open defecation is what pupil are following, lady teachers are
visiting nearby houses to attend their nature calls.
Good play ground welcomes you with few trees and
reminds you of golden age of school days and the building looked like oldest in
the lot and no water connection available, the attender brings water in a pot don’t ask about the quality
of the water this hasn’t changed since
my schooldays. My fundamental question is whether this RTE would improve the
basic conditions in government school s? what happened to all schools ,inspite
of supreme court order on construction of toilets nothing is moving at the
ground level. Even ants can move faster than these Grampanchyats .The system
needs greater positive movement.
Everybody talking about 25% quota in private schools
but this RTE act also contains improving basic facilities in government schools
.By looking at the history of any scheme would make me or you pessimist.
How various schemes are being implemented at the ground
level?
I) INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY @ SCHOOLS
There are no basic facilities in the government schools
but there are more than 6000 schools in Andhra Pradesh equipped with computers.
1)
There are more than 6000 schools equipped
with computers in Andhra Pradesh, seven major companies got contracts..including
NIIT,Educom etc
2)
The cost per school is more than 6,70,000
it includes 10 pcs a generator and internet, software etc it includes total
computer lab cost
3)
Other
cost 1,40,000 rs and also 2
trainers should be available to train students and teachers
4)
The headmaster of the Government school
gets 600 pm as cost of diesel for running generator
5)
Every Government school headmaster has 3
bank accounts and the government credits 40000 rs to the Headmaster’s account
towards miscellaneous expenditure
6)
More than 12 hrs power cut in villages , it
means no power when students are in the schools
The school which I have visited (not only 1 school- I
have visited few schools), the computer lab with full of dust and no proper
maintenance is evident, there are more than 10 computers available but only 2 CPUs
are working properly . I questioned the trainer what about the other CPUS? he told that they are connected to a server which
is 60 km away from that village, how can a system can be connected to a server
without CPU that to 60 km away from the computer lab?. There is a big generator
but it is not working
As per the government norms the trainer should be
graduate and should have at least PGDCA but this trainer appearing for Bcom 2nd
year exams. As per the norms he should be getting 6000 rs pm but he has been
paid only 2000 rs .The contract awarded to NIIT but NIIT has awarded this
to another sub contractor at district level.
Does computer training going well in the school? my answer is no ,does anybody care to answer
this question? again my answer is no .
This is the situation of one school imagine the
situation in more than 6000 schools where this programme being implemented?
II)
Mid Day Meals:
1)
A flagship programme of central government
and it has been largely claimed as successful
2)
Everything works as contracts in India.
This midday meals scheme no exception to that. The Dwacra groups cook food for
students on rotation basis .May be one month or 2 months or it depends on the
equation with the local leader .
3)
The food is lowest quality and even rats
can’t take the risk of eating it …unfortunately the poor students who can’t
afford to go to their homes because they might not get food in the home had to
eat substandard food .Yet nobody was there to take responsibility.
Having seen two big schemes at the ground level I am sure this RTE would become another
looting festival .The act is good ,drafting is good but implementation ?
