Parity in education welcomed by NGOs in Uttar Pradesh

Parity in education welcomed by NGOs in Uttar Pradesh

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A state level seminar was organised by the State Collective on Right to Education (SCoRE) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh to discuss the historic decision of the Allahabad High Court ordering government servants to send their children to public schools.

The seminar also discussed the possibility of the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) rolling back the ‘no detention policy’  in the Right to Education (RTE) Act. 

Speaking at the event, member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, Ravi Prakash Verma welcomed the decision of the Allahabad High Court.

“We welcome this historic decision which is in favour of children. Education is the key to social development and it is important that children from all section of the society are provided equal opportunity without any discrimination,” Verma said.

The state level forum of around 500 different NGOs, working on RTE, also decided to meet elected representatives and government officials to ensure collective advocacy on the mentioned issues. 

National convenor of the RTE forum, Ambrish Rai pointed out that in 1962 Kothari Commission had advocated for a universal education system. “The Commission envisaged that children from underprivileged and rich background would study and learn together under one roof. It is not that government schools cannot provide quality education as the government runs Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navoday Vidyalayas and army schools where resources and quality are maintained,” said Rai.

Experts pointed that regular monitoring of student’s learning level, teacher student interaction and working together is the main aim of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). 

Earlier, keeping this in mind no detention policy was initiated, however, the decision of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) to remove CCE and no detention policy from ambit of RTE is unwelcome and should be opposed by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Written by: Oxfam India staff

Photo credit: Oxfam India