This long awaited landmark bill was passed in parliament on Tuesday 4th August 2009. This will now allow all concerned to take legal action against parents or guardians who refuse to send their children to school. India as a nation has shown a strong political will in passing this bill and has now joined a select global club, stating our intentions of getting every child between 6 to 14 to school. The law is unique because while providing compulsory education, the school authorities would not fail any student till class VIII, making provisions in both government and private schools to provide 25% quota to "disadvantaged children".
We are aware of the numerous one teacher government and private schools in the country with students over 100, the poor quality of teaching/learning where students tested before leaving class VIII, are barely able to read and write one sentence and failing to do simple mathematics. If the bill is intended to serve the purpose for which it has been finally enacted, the policy makers and planners should make adequate resource allocations in building more schools, upgrading existing facilities such as toilets for girl children, appoint more teachers and upgrade their skills, so that children in schools are not short-changed in the name of education.
CINI has been promoting education of children from deprived communities since the early nineties, and developed a unique child tracking system in Kolkata municipal schools to prevent drop outs in the CINI ASHA urban programme. In Jharkhand, CINI has been designated as the "Mother NGO" for education by the Government of Jharkhand and has been implementing various programmes for deprived urban and rural children in the state. In the next few months, CINI will discuss the bill with the community, the teachers and the elected representatives in its project area, and ensure that children are not deprived of their basic right to compulsory and free education in the world's largest democracy.
