New Delhi: With two years into the RTE and
32 states having notified the rules, government on Saturday said
they should now also focus on strict implementation of
provisions against corporal punishment and detention and
initiate curricular reforms.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal asserted that improving quality
is critical if the objective of the Right to Education (RTE)
is to be fulfilled even as he noted a decline in dropout rates
in states like Bihar where it has come down to about seven per
cent following RTE.
"We have issued advisory to the state education ministers
to initiate curriculum reforms as it is a matter of concern
that not much attention is being paid to improve quality," the
Minister told reporters here.
He said more than 31 states have notified academic
authority as per RTE provisions which would look into the
curriculum reforms process.
While RTE has seen an increased allocation of Rs 25,000
crore for the 2012-13 fiscal, up from Rs 13,000 crore, Sibal
said the states should take steps to hasten the process of
teachers appointment as the Centre has already sanctioned six
lakh posts.
He said as against mandated teacher student ratio of 30:1,
43 per cent primary schools have over 40 children per one
teacher.
With 4.96 lakh classrooms having been sanctioned under
Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan which is being aligned with RTE,
Sibal asked the state to put "all RTE provisions into practice
in schools including prohibition of corporal punishment,
detention and expulsion".
PTI
