The Right to Education Act 2009: Another commenter!

I have been listening to a few debates and have been reading about the recently enacted RTE Act. It’s quite interesting to see the way civil society has responded/reacted to it. As expected and normally happens it has received a mixed response and if to believe the skeptics, it won’t tick!

Am an optimist and believe this a very positive and good move and would like to congratulate Mr Sibal for being able to pull this off! This is one big step forward towards ensuring education for all.

A “perfect” Act?: Yes, even I believe the act has quite a few unanswered questions and there are and will be issues on ground with respect to implementation, but for that matter, which new and positive or even negative plan doesn’t have gaps? So what do we do? Wait and work for another ten, twenty, thirty years to draft a foolproof plan and try to implement the same in another similar timelines?! Well, I believe, we will never achieve anything that way. How have the MNCs able to take their products to places where government programs don’t reach?! Am not trying to equate the two or trying to oversimplify the issues involved in implementation of government programs, but suggesting there's a lot that government and non-governmental organizations can learn from these corporations and implement them. I also believe that if a CEO of a profit making organization had all the answers to the questions of why a product / services will not work and waited to get the answer to those questions, am sure that CEO would have been sacked or the corporation would have been closed!!! Don’t like this example, take this: had Gandhi ji and other freedom fighters waited to draw a “perfect” plan of national movement for winning freedom, I bet, we still have been fighting our battle for freedom! So what am I trying to say? I am saying, we may not have a perfect or foolproof Act, but also the country can’t wait for another ten, twenty, thirty years to make a "perfect" Act. We need to make a start and this is a good start! We all know this Act will help millions of children even with its inherent imperfections, so let’s embrace it and help start implementing it and work towards its improvement.

My concerns: I am concerned about how the rampant class system impacts and may impediment the objectives of the Act. It surely will show the true colours of the pseudo socio sympathizers (people who may sponsor an under-privileged child’s education in a school that is as distant as possible from their own child’s school) as tow how they come to terms to the fact that the son of the maid working in his/her house will share the seat with his/her own son! A standard 1 kid won’t discriminate; will his parent be that “mature”?! I am worried.

I was watching a debate on Times Now and was disgusted by the comment of one of the participant Lina Ashar, Founder & Chairperson, Kangaroo Kids, when she said how she will manage the psychological impact an under-privileged child will have if he is not invited to birthday party of Shahrukh Khan’s son?! Do you see this as a drawback of the Act?! C’mon, you got to be kidding!!! These are the people who have been talking about social development and that government should do something!

To conclude: As I said earlier, am an optimist and am sure this Act will definitely benefit millions of children and this is a landmark Act.

Well done KS!

Ghar se masjid hai bahut door chalo, yun kar le
kisi rote hue bachche ko hansaaya jaaye

Teach!

It's quite late...so good night and good morning! :)