Challenges ahead to implement reservation for marginalized sections in Pvt schools; Long term solution lies in strengthening state run school education system

New Delhi, April 20: The provision of 25 percent reservation for economically and socially weaker section in private schools under the RTE Act is an important clause that allows integration of these children with private school system.

However this clause should not allow the government to abdicate its responsibility to provide not only free and compulsory but quality education to all the children from 6-14 years of age.

More than 80 per cent of the children continue to study in government schools in India whose quality of education has often been a great cause of concern.

According to Annual Status Report of Education 2011, quoted by the union government itself in its Annual Economic Survey 2011-12:

• 56 per cent of the schools in India still have no separate toilets for girls

• 28.6 per cent of the schools still do not have libraries

• 60 per cent of the schools still do not comply with the Teachers pupil ratio of 1:30 as stipulated in the RTE Act

• 28 per cent of the schools have no playground

• 16.6 per cent of the schools have no provision for drinking water

• Around 45 per cent of the schools do not have even their own boundary wall

• More than half of standard 2 and standard 4 classes sit together with another class.

The Centre has already come out with model rules which explain in detail the modus operandi of implementation of provision of 25 per cent reservation for children belonging to economically and socially weaker section in private schools as provided in the RTE Act

Education being a subject in the state list, the challenge is to ensure that all the states come out with effective state rules to implement this provision at the ground level.

The resulting guidelines from these Rules should not only ensure integration of children from marginalised sections of society in the private schools but should also ensure their protection from discrimination within these school systems  - what mechanisms will be in place to ensure that children from marginalised are not discriminated in any form and their dignity are protected?

Mere incorporation of a provision within the Act will not automatically lead to its implementation in a manner that is meaningful and relevant for these children.

In fact, the 25% reservation clause is fraught with challenges and raises many questions which need to be answered.

Apart from tuition fees, which will be free, children studying in private schools have to pay money for a range of activities and items throughout the year. Who will pay for them? What about mid day meals for these children?  

What will a child do after 8th Standard? The government will not pay after the child turns 14. In this scenario, the child will either take admission in a Government school or drop out of schooling altogether. Are we ready with a solution for the problem of dropouts? After class 8, will these children pushed out from the private schools? How will they adjust in government schools at this stage?

How do we ensure that the children from the marginalised sections who get admission under the reservation system get integrated with other children and do not face any kind of discrimination in classrooms?

The private schools, State and the civil society would have to come together, join hands and find viable solutions to all these questions. Otherwise the implementation of the provision for reservation for children would not yield desirable results.

So while the government  needs to put a strict and effective monitoring and implementation system in place to implement the 25 per cent reservation in private schools for children from economically and socially weaker sections. In this context it is also necessary to reinforce that the principal responsibility for ensuring universalisation of elementary education lies with the government.

For more information, please contact Arun Anand: arun.anand@crymail.org or call +91 11 3017 4700.

Huge gaps in implementation of RTE

 Two years after the implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, information and trends gathered by Child Rights and You (CRY) at grassroots level across several states indicate that providing free and compulsory education to all under this legislation continues to remain a big challenge.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which is often referred as Right to Education (RTE) Act in common parleys, came into force from 1 April, 2010. The Act provides for free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years.

As e all kno that there have been gross violations of several provisions of the Right to Education Act over the last two years. The irony is that several states are yet to put even the monitoring mechanism, stipulated in the RTE Act, in place; so we do not even know the exact extent of violations.

So far only 14 States have notified the formation of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR). Apart from these Haryana and Mizoram have constituted the REPA - Right to Education Protection Authority.

Section 31 of the Act clearly mentions that SCPCR/REPA as monitoring agencies "would examine and review the safeguards for rights provided under this Act." It also adds that these agencies would, "inquire into complaints relating to child's right to free and compulsory education."

In addition to, this according to various case studies done by CRY and its partners in several states over the period of last two years- Children are still denied admission in schools on various grounds despite this Act being in place.

There are cases where admission was denied due to not having transfer certificate, birth certificate or local residence proof. In many cases parents had to pay admission fee and were asked to pay monthly fee. No receipt of any kind against paid amount was provided to the parents by the school. There are also cases where children are being denied admission in mid-year or after half yearly school test.

Closure of schools is another key issue in this context. Between 1993 to 2011, in states like Kerala, the number of schools on the closure list has gone up to 3962 and the total number of children affected by them is 3, 65,000. Similarly in the state of Gujarat, there is a State Government Resolution and Circular to close the school which has less than 100 students. Its effect will be on more than 3000 schools.

Infrastructure also continues to be a major bottleneck in this regard. According to Annual Status Report of Education 2011, quoted by the union government itself in its Annual Economic Survey 2011-12:

• 56 per cent of the schools in India still have no separate toilets for girls
• 28.6 per cent of the schools still do not have libraries
• 60 per cent of the schools still do not comply with the Teachers pupil ratio of 1:30 as stipulated in the RTE Act
• 28 per cent of the schools have no playground
• 16.6 per cent of the schools have no provision for drinking water
• Around 45 per cent of the schools do not have even their own boundary wall
• More than half of standard 2 and standard 4 classes sit together with another class

CRY Corporate Responsibility Summit: Defining Strategy for a Sustainable Future for Children

Representatives of Corporate India gathered on March 7, 2012 to learn, share and discuss how Corporate Responsibility is a key contributor in bringing about social change at the CRY Corporate Social Responsibility Summit. The event brought together key international figures in CSR as well as stalwarts of CSR in India who discussed how the magnitude of human rights issues in India requires a convergence of efforts from all sectors - the government, civil society and corporates.

The CRY Corporate Responsibility Summit is a step towards defining a clearer CSR strategy for corporates in India as CRY’s own experiences, as well as several industry reports indicate that a majority of companies in India are still to clearly define a CSR strategy.


The opening plenary session was led by John Elkington – one of the world’s greatest influencers on sustainability and author of the term ‘Triple Bottom Line’, who spoke about the criticality of corporate responsibility in the context of India’s socio–economic situation. "It’s time to look at that kind of sustainability which goes beyond corporate responsibility, where business is at the forefront of change." He added, “Children and young people are the future. Business has a key role in creating shared values, encouraging young people to be entrepreneurs and celebrating their successes and failures.”

Addressing the plenary session, Puja Marwaha, CEO, CRY – Child Rights and You said, “When there are sections of society left out of growth and are consequently displaced, it is the children who suffer the most. Now is the time for corporate India to come together and take action, and ensure a lasting change in the lives of children in India.”

The summit was attended by some of India’s most experienced CR players. Those who shared their experiences included, amongst others, Kishor Chaukar (MD Tata Industries), Nitin Paranjpe (Chairman HUL), B.S. Nagesh (Founder TRRAIN) and C.K. Venkataraman (COO Tanishq).

Participating in a panel discussion, Nitin Paranjpe, Chairman, HUL said, “For businesses, ‘Doing well by Doing good’ is the mantra.” While speaking about hiring people for businesses, C.K. Vekantraman, COO, Tanishq said, “Let’s not go to ITIs, let us go to villages.” He said this approach brings benefit to the local communities as well as businesses.

Addressing the closing session, Ola Lohman – an expert on CSR associated with the Swedish Institute spoke about the future of CSR in India. ”For the next 20 years the CSR movement will change. The way companies approach CSR will change. It’s a question of efficiency, cost and profits for companies,” said Lohman.

Earlier during the day, some of the key speakers– Rama Iyer (Founder and Director – White Kettle Consulting), Gaurav Rajput( Director Marketing, Aviva) and R. Balakrishnan (Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas India) participated in a panel discussion headed by Jean–Michel Dumont (Chairman Ruder Finn, Asia) on the Impact of Corporate Responsibility on Brands. The summit saw participation from representatives of key corporate houses in India, including Barclays Bank, ANZ, Marico, HPCL, IDBI Bank and eClerx Services Ltd.

Bol Jamoore ,Kolkatta.

Bol Jamoore, a theatre festival on child rights, will bring thirteen theatre groups to Kolkata’s streets and public spaces in a bid to draw attention to children’s basic rights. The performers range from school going children, to social workers and theatre professionals.These amateur and professional groups will use theatre, magic, one-act plays, puppetry and mime to bring to the streets of Kolkata the realities of children’s lives.
Since its inception more than a decade ago, this theatre festival, a CRY initiative, has not only provided a dynamic and effective platform for the artists but also found an emotional connect with the audience in the city. Hugely successful as a medium, it takes forward CRY’s belief that each individual – wherever they be or whatever they do, can join the movement to ensure child rights. The festival is being organized by the “Theatre Forum for Child Rights” (TFCR), a forum supported by CRY and the festival aims to generate awareness on various social issues and reach out to public as an audience. The entire event is focused on sensitizing people on issues like child labour, poverty and core issues of deprivation.

Please be there to support CRY and all our wonderful participants!

10th February - City Centre II(Open space) - 4 pm to 7 pm

9th February - Chandi Vidyapith,Ramraja tala (School Ground) - 2pm to 4pm

11th February - Prafulla Kanan Vidyamandir ,Krishnapur (School ground) - 2pm to 4pm

CRY honoured with the Gold Standard Award for NGO Engagement

The Gold Standard Award for NGO Engagement identifies excellence in NGO engagement with external groups. It applies to domestic and international NGOs operating in Asia Pacific or to Asian NGOs operating overseas. The winners of this award have achieved "Gold Standard" in their strategic engagement with government, business or civil society.
Read more about why CRY was chosen for this award.

Despite the growing size of India’s economy (GDP has now passed $1 trillion),India continues to have widespread problems regarding vulnerable and uneducated children. Child Rights and You’s (CRY) analysis clearly shows that a range of policies are impacting children negatively. CRY campaigns for equal inclusion of everyone, including the poorest, in a village’s decision-making.It builds resilient communities which can demand entitlements for their children and themselves. Using this approach, CRY now works with over 700,000 children and their families in 7,745 villages and urban slums,spread across 20 states in India. This progress is due to the support of over 250 volunteers and 200,000 individual donors worldwide.
CRY’s approach in children’s education works through a three-phase engagement: firstly by identifying the most marginalised, secondly through an examination of the root causes of the deprivation, and thirdly in providing real solutions to problems by making sure that the laws and policies that guarantee their rights are actually implemented.
A hybrid of corporate and development sector cultures that defies the conventional definitions of philanthropy exists as the preserve of the wealthy.
CRY is aiming to change the philanthropic paradigm and mindsets regarding how children are viewed by policy makers, media, non-profit organisations and the general public, and this has the potential to achieve sweeping change for children and marginalised communities.
CRY started work on empowering under privileged children and the communities they belonged to by actively partnering smaller/grassroots-level NGOs working in remote and neglected areas of India. These smaller organisations are trained to mobilise rural and urban communities to access their entitlements through collective action. Such policy advocacy work continues with two key demands today: one, to extend the right of education to all children (it currently covers children from six to 14 years of age only); and secondly, to ensure that state governments pass the requisite policies to implement the entitlements guaranteed by this law.
The impact of CRY’s work on children’s education manifests at two levels. A look at the impact of year 2010-11 showcases that at the level of the village and/or slum,it has ensured that 384,109 children are enrolled in schools. A further 21,676 children who had dropped out of school have been re-enrolled,with 80 new government schools being opened as a result of campaigns and sustaining follow-up with local Education Departments at the Block and District levels. A further 157 government schools were upgraded and 103 were prevented from closing down by repeated petitioning of the authorities concerned.
CRY’s work made sure that these schools had one teacher per class who attended regularly, and that the essential infrastructure, such as separate toilets for boys/ girls and potable drinking water, are in place. In the last 30 years, CRY’s work in education and other fundamental rights has reached 1.5 million children across India.
CRY’s model is currently being used directly by the 220 partner organisations working in 23 states across the country. A further 500 organisations who are part of the state-based alliances CRY supports are now convinced about, and are attempting to replicate, the model in their field areas. CRY plans to consolidate the impact of its work across states and to advocate the relative advantages of this approach in strengthening inclusive democracy. Besides this, the plan envisages ensuring that the voice of children is heard and addressed at the levels of administration, judiciary, law enforcement, and policy making–in short, in all governance mechanisms. In 2010, CRY had press conferences in four metro cities of the country where children spoke directly to the press on the hurdles that they face while accessing their fundamental rights.

(Courtesy: Public Affairs Asia Gold Standard Awards)