The Right To Education: Rhetoric or A Reality?
By Shalu Nigam
18 January, 2015
Countercurrents.org
Right to Education in India ensures that every child under the age of 14 years must be provided with free and compulsory education. However, to make this a reality, a continuous effort is required on the part of the state to ensure that both the quantitative and qualitative requirements are met. This means not only increasing availability of and accessibility to schools, classrooms, teachers and infrastructure facilities across the country but also there is a need to improve the quality of education. However, this has not happened and many children remain out of the purview of the Right to Education (RTE), specifically those who hail from poor and marginal families. The10th Annual Status of Education Report released by Pratham recently, which audited elementary education in rural India, observed that though enrolment level is rising yet learning levels remain poor. Further, a large number of children remain excluded from the purview of RTE because for these children navigating through the maze of poverty to reach to the corridors of education is a challenge. Reasons being that the state has failed to link up the Right to Education with larger socio-economic realities of masses in the neo liberal regime. Also, commercialization of education is a major concern. In other words, RTE has to be seen in a comprehensive manner while considering not only availability of infrastructure, teachers or facilities but also in terms of the quality of education and its meaningfulness is the changing world.
My Encounter with Asha: A Bundle of Hope
Asha is a 15 year old shy teenager who came from a village on the border of West Bengal with her mother to Gurgaon around a month back. She has studied up to fifth grade but could not continue further as her father who was working as a potter expired by then. She has three siblings who are now staying with her grandmother in village. One of her 12 year old sister is rolling beedis in village and earning Rs 300/ per week. Her father’s brother offered to marry her mother after she became widow, but she refused, because he is a drunkard. Asha realized that her family needs resources and therefore she persuaded her mother to bring her to city so that she can contribute to the family income. For Asha, her goal is to ensure that her siblings should study. Her mother is working as a maid in four different houses in Gurgaon and earn Rs 4500/- after cleaning, cooking, washing utensils and clothes. Asha now will be taking care of an infant at a posh residence in the city. She will be paid 3000/- Rs for 10 hours of work. Asha, like her name signifies, is full of hope. Her dream is to continue her study and be able `to work in an office’.
Meeting Prakash outside a Metro station in Delhi: A Source of Enlightenment
I met Prakash outside the metro station at Mandi House, New Delhi. With a lot of big dreams in his eye, Prakash a thin lean 14 year old boy was selling chana (roasted gram). He hails from Gopalpur near Patna and has studied upto fourth grade. His father used to own a small piece of land but it was sold for the treatment of cancer of his grandfather. Prakash has three younger sisters and two brothers. The elder brother died in an accident and the younger one is residing in the village. His father expired after he consumed poison. With no other source of income, the family was at the verge of destitution therefore, Prakash went to Lucknow with one of his relative in search of a job eight months back. He worked at a small dhaba for three months but left it because the owner refused to pay him any money after making him toil for 11 hours a day. Besides he was never given enough food or a holiday and the owner used to beat him violently. He ran away from Lucknow and came to Delhi to look for `better opportunities’. Since then he has been searching for work but faced disappointments. However, he considered himself to be fortunate enough to meet a man `who taught him to be self reliant and now he is happy to find a new opportunity to be an entrepreneur’ and `to live a life on his own’. Every day he is selling different items and on certain days manages to earn Rs 100/ a day. He could send 1200 Rs/ to his family in village last month and feels that he is now the `man in the house’ and therefore is responsible to earn a living. He wanted to go school but now according to him `life is a great teacher and streets are like a school’ – his wisely words are indeed a source of enlightenment.
Both these children from the lower socio-economic strata have entered into vocation because of their economic compulsions and constitute invisible work force. For them education entails learning while earning. Their stories are reflective of dreams, aspirations, longings and hopes of children from marginalized communities within the modern globalized India and the manner in which these are crushed by changing socio-economic environment. Attending school is not a `choice’ as they are excluded from the mainstream education because of pressing circumstances. The Child Labour Prohibition Act or the Right to Education Act or any such legal provisions become meaningless in such situations as these overlook the realities of life of millions of children like these two. These situations also indicate toward fragmentation of family, weakening of community bonds and increasing vulnerabilities specifically for children from poor communities. It also reflects on the impact of macrostructures and processes of globalised and capitalized world on children. In order to address such situations it is essential to look and to address the structural roots of poverty which lie in crisis created by introduction of neoliberal regime.
One of the arguments raised is that the benefits of development will trickle down and the demand for child labour will be replaced by the demand for skilled labour. However, this argument proves to be wrong in Indian situation. It is not on the basis of demand created by the market that children are compelled to work, rather it is their circumstances relating to abject poverty and dire need to work that force children to work. It is therefore essential to link up microcosmic realities of life with macrocosm policies to realize rights in a meaningful way. Rights, political or civil, in themselves are futile unless they are linked up with the socio-economic rights1. The rhetoric of right to education is therefore ineffective unless the basic needs are met; education has to be link up with the food security, right to health, right to livelihood and employment and other social security measures.
Many children like these two are navigating through the maze of poverty and scarcity, helping their families to survive through the tough times. Reaching to the corridors of education is a challenge for children from marginal families because the state failed to link up the Right to Education with larger socio-economic realities of the majority of population. For millions of children, survival becomes a major preoccupation at the young age and therefore becomes the priority. Though much of debate2 has been held on the issue of working children in an informal economy, however, the need is to re-examine these deliberation in the context of RTE in the globalized framework when the state is rolling back from its obligation to provide education and instead privatizing and commercializing the same.
Further, though the RTE Act has been into operation since 2010 however, the quality of education remains as a major concern. The Annual Status of Education 20143 (ASER) released by Pratham, based on the audit of education in rural areas, reported that though enrolment is high, however learning remains poor in most of the states. School facilities in some states have improved nevertheless reading and math remained as a major source of distress. The report shows that the enrolment level has increased to 96% nonetheless it is observed that only a quarter of children in grade 3 can read the text book of grade 2 fluently. In a few states like Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra the reading status has declined over previous years. Only 25.3% children in grade 3 could do two digits subtraction. A serious issue that emerged is that around 20% children in grade 2 cannot recognize numbers up to 9.
The National Achievement Survey4 conducted by MHRD also reported that low scores were obtained by children in mathematical questions in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana and Odisha. Children from these states also performed low in reading. Thus, the available data clearly indicates that focus has been laid on quantitative aspects like enrolment or attendance, however, what is neglected in the process is the quality of education. The 4 E’s strategic priorities5 which define approach on education in India that is Expansion (establishing educational institutions in underserved and unserved areas), Equity and Inclusion (bridging gender and social gaps), Excellence (improving quality and relevance of education) and Employability (focus on vocational skills) therefore failed to meet the objectives.
Education: A Compulsory Requirement for Holistic Development
Education is considered as an essential pre-requisite for development – economic as well as social. It is necessary not only to create an agile workforce but also to develop a band of an active citizenship to realize the democratic ideals. MK Gandhi proposed the concept of `Nai Talim’ based on holistic education process. According to him the purpose of education is `to attain `swaraj’ or self rule. Paulo Freire warned against the banking system of education and advocated for the critical pedagogy which is transformative, empowering, and political and aim for conscientization. Antonio Gramsci gave the concept of `organic intellectuals’ that promotes the interest of common people rather than perpetuating the hegemony of dominating class. For Rabindra Nath Tagore, education is a process of self realization and freedom rather than `colonization of mind’.
A focus on quality education, therefore, requires more than enhancing test scores or even preparing for vocations; it entails that a learner should develop life skills as well as experiences that promote critical consciousness, further citizenship and deepen democracy. The basic purpose of education is to develop a creative and an enlightened mind that has the capacity and self confidence to question, imagine, innovate, challenge the status quo and is accountable to strengthen the process of governance. Education enables individual to act as a responsible and independent critic of government’s policies, programmes and actions, to act fearlessly to expose the harsh realities, thus push for democratic reforms. To create such a system there must be an educator who thinks and act liberally and therefore may guide the student towards the path of liberation. Also, the institutions which provide education, therefore, are bound to provide a democratic environment, based on the principles of shared governance that promote academic freedom. However, this system remains merely a wishful thinking in the globalised capitalized world which prefers to commercialize and privatize education.
Moreover, recently, much emphasis is being laid on the employability aspect of education in India rather than its democratic aspect which aims to develop proactive citizenship qualities. The real purpose of education is clearly not meant to serve business or profits. Schools cannot act as an appendage to the serve the interest of state or corporation. Also, citizens are not mere human resources or consumers; rather they are the part of a vibrant democracy and a changing world. The need is therefore to develop active citizenry for strengthening a vibrant, grass root, plural democracy by preparing young minds to engage in critical thinking, engaging in real world issues through active and meaningful participation in civil and political processes.
Free and Compulsory Education under Article 21 A of Indian Constitution
The Supreme Court in Unnikrishan’s matter in 1993 pronounced that all children up to fourteen years of age shall be granted a Fundamental Right to Education. The Court contended that the Fundamental Right to Life (Article 21) in Part III of the Constitution should be read in harmonious construction with the Directive in Article 45 (Part IV) to provide Free and Compulsory Education to the 0-14 year age group children. Hence, by implication, free education of equitable quality became a Fundamental Right. The court through this decision clearly upheld the rights of masses to quality education thus enabling them to join the mainstream and compete with the privileged sections of the society. Indeed, it holds state responsible to provide education that is non-discriminatory, inclusive, universal and equitable. However, the state in the guise of RTE continued with its agenda of privatization thus creating a contradiction in terms of what it intends to do and what it actually does.
The Constitution 93rd amendment Bill (amended to 86th in process) was passed in Lok Sabha on November 28, 2001 to envisage education as a fundamental right of citizens rather than as a state’s obligation as was provided under Article 45 of the Constitution, a non justiciable provision previously. On the same historic day, it was reported that a Shiksha Satyagraha was launched by the National Alliance for Fundamental Right to Education (NAFRE) where 40,000 to 50,000 people gathered to demand the right to education. “These peasants, landless labourers and slum-dwellers, both men and women, demolished the myth promoted by the state and the educated civil society that the poor people are interested only in roti, kapda and makaan (food, clothing and shelter) and not in educating their children”6. The demand was to make the right to education a reality for all children up to class 12, equitable education irrespective of child’s background and for building a Common School system. However, this rally was abruptly ended under the pressure from the government because globalization was seen as an alternative agenda which pushes to reduce the role of state and promote the design of the Structural Adjustment Programme while enhancing the involvement of private and market sector, leading to commercialization of education.
The 93rd Constitutional Amendment Bill was so designed to fulfill the agenda of globalization rather than fulfilling its commitment to the Constitutional obligations. The state diluted and distorted the meaning of the RTE and deprived millions of children their basic entitlement by legitimizing unequal, hierarchical, multilayered system of schooling. The Right to Education Act 2009 which was notified on April 1, 2010 clearly violated the principle of equitable education. The Act in actual promoted the neo-liberal agenda and prescribed inferior discriminatory infrastructure for government schools. It provides for hiring teachers on contract denying them social security and dignified remuneration. The Act was criticized for its welfarists approach rather than working on the right based model.
Through marketization of education and paving the way to sell it like a commodity, the state denied many children the opportunity to get educated. In a country when many people are being deprived of their basic necessities like food, water or shelter because of their inability to pay, privatization of education only act as a hindrance to access and avail opportunities to education. Yet, the state continues to commercialize the education by opening space for market to profit, shift funds from public corpus to private, unaided, commercial schools and denying unprivileged children to quality education7.
Article 21-A of the Constitution states, “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.” The conditionality introduced by adding the phrase “in such a manner as the State may by law determine” is detrimental to the interest of millions of children. It was not the paucity of fund rather it is the matter of socio-political priority for the state when it declares its intent while enacting this provision of the Constitution.
The phrase `free and compulsory education’ is ambiguously interpreted as education provided in the private institution is never `free’ and `compulsory’ education in the state run schools is absent because there is no proper infrastructure, inadequate number of teachers and more focus on numbers rather than the value which severely impact the quality of education8. Also, the word compulsory does not fit into the framework of right based perspective of education. Compulsory attendance in school necessarily does not ensure quality learning especially when the teacher is absent or overburdened or the school lacks other facilities or classrooms are cramped.
The phrase `Free and compulsory education’ implies that it is mandatory for the state to provide for facilities and means to educate children. However, sufficient funds are never allocated to meet such provisions in spite of the fact that government created a fund through education cess collection. For the year 2014, just over 3% GDP is allocated for education as compared to recommended GDP of 6%9.
RTE provides for free and compulsory education for children between the age group of 6 to 14 years of age. The children on the age group of 0 to 6 years are left to be covered under the purview of ICDS programme. Further, none of the states have fulfilled the basic norms emphasized under the RTE Act in terms of requirement of teachers, infrastructure requirement or pupil teacher ratio10. Also, education still remains an elusive goal for millions of children from tribal and minority communities and those hailing from conflict zone.
A sub clause k was added to Article 51 A was added which states that “who is a parent or a guardian to provide opportunities to education to his child or as the case may be ward between the age of six to fourteen years”. It therefore compels parents to provide education to children shifting responsibilities from the state to the parents. Again, parent’s ability to pay determines the opportunities s/he can provide to educate the child because the state promotes private education indirectly by not improving the quality of education in the government schools. Further, it fails to provide quality education to children who are orphan or to the children whose parents are sick, ailing or poor and therefore are not in the position to fulfill their constitutional obligations.
Why after so many years of independence, India failed to create a system that could educate all of its citizens? Lack of political clout of the illiterate masses is a major factor because of which state is neglecting education opined Dreze and Sen11. Weiner12 in his famous book argued "Educators and officials do not regard education as an equalizer, as an instrument for developing shared attitudes and social characteristics, but rather as a way of differentiating one class from another… Those who are educated have power over those who are not".
Also, too much focus on numbers – enrolment, attendance etc is diverting the attention from the real meaning of education. Besides, 3 Rs – Reading, Learning and Arithmetic, emphasis must be laid on nurturing creativity, imagination and honing skills like art, music, handicraft, textiles, pottery, farming and similar other skills including the life skills, which are different from the market or business requirement. However, this issue of linking education with life skills and democratic goals to make it more meaningful has been neglected for years.
Striving towards Meaningful Right to Education
In short, it may be said that the RTE remains rhetoric for majority of the people who exist on the margins. For children like Asha and Prakash who entered the work force and an informal economy because of economic compulsions, education remains a distant dream. They remain behind because of reasons relating to food insecurity, vulnerability, growing up in a situation where resources are not available and face the stress of being poor. Poverty constrains life leading to stress, adversity, fewer opportunities and availability of meager resources among other problems. Acting as a breadwinner in childhood push them farther as work becomes a priority. Therefore, for children for poor families, it is crucial to address a range of possible situations through innovative ways including focusing on the issue of family poverty. Supporting families economically and providing interventions directed to the children themselves may facilitate the goal of education to all. The 4 As framework that is availability (universal availability), accessibility (free of fees and without any barriers created by cost, geography or other discrimination), acceptability (quality education) and adaptability (responsive to learner’s need) has to be understood and implemented broadly to include the context of children from the marginalized sections and must be inclusive of their specific needs.
Public education is a means whereby the state fulfills its responsibility to make education available for all of the citizens. However, by withdrawing its commitment to education and by promoting privatization the state is denying rights to individuals as well as acting to diminish societal aspirations. The discourse on child rights has to be seen in the context of globalization and its impact in accentuating inequalities in the third world countries including India. While pushing for Structural Adjustment Programmes in the countries like India, factors specific to Indian situation like lack of social security policies or social welfare measures clubbed with inequalities that exist due to distribution patterns relating to land, tenancy, income, corruption, caste and class based hierarchies, marginalization and impact of all such issues on standard of living of needs to be taken into account.
The right to education is crucial for creation of equitable society and ensuring democratic governance. Implemented properly, the RTE may help individuals to respond to life challenges and take advantage of opportunities while simultaneously promoting educational and civic resources essential for democratic governance. Education is a tool to generate a sense of solidarity in a diverse society by addressing concerns relating to inequality, exclusion and segregation. It is essential to take realities of the lives of poor children and therefore the need is to think beyond the provisions of making schools available, enrolment or attendance related data.
The Author is an activist and researcher working on gender, governance and law issues. She has written several books and articles and tweets at https://twitter.com/shalunigam. She may be contacted at [email protected]
1 Nigam Shalu (2014) Asserting Rights, Claiming Entitlements: Revolution by Masses, Countercurrents dated December 10th http://www.countercurrents.org/nigam101214.htm
2 Burra Neera (2005) Crusading for Children in India’s Informal Economy, Economic and Political Weekly December 3
3 ASER (2015) The Tenth Annual Status of Education Report ASER 2014 http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202014/pressreleaseeng.pdf
4 National Achievement Survey Cycle 3 http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/document-reports/Summary%20NAS%20Class-3%20%28Cycle-3%29-Final.pdf
5 NUEPA (2014) Education for All, Towards Quality with Equity Ministry of Human resource and Development, GoI http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_document/EFA%20Review%20Report%20final.pdf
6 Sadgopal Anil (2002) A Convenient Consensus: The Political Economy of Constitutional 93rd Amendment Bill, The Front Line, Vol 18, (26) December 22, 2001 to January 4, 2002 http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1826/18261070.htm
7 Sadgopal Anil (2008) Misconceiving Fundamentals, Dismantling Rights, Telehka June 14th original version available at http://www.educationforallinindia.com/CSS2.pdf
8 Bhuyan Avantika (2013) Right to Education has failed the no-fail policy The Business Standard dated May 4 http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/right-to-education-act-has-failed-the-no-fail-policy-anil-sadgopal-113050400584_1.html
9 Rukmini S. (2014) The Price of Learning, The Hindu September 14 http://www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/the-price-of-learning/article6408317.ece
10 Chowdhary Kavita (2014) Right to Education: More Needs to be Done, The Business Standard, dated April 5 http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/right-to-education-more-needs-to-be-done-114040500105_1.html
11 Dreze J and Sen A (1995) Basic Education as a Political Issue, Journal of Education Planning and Administration Vol. XI (1)
12 Weiner Myron (1991) The Child and the State in India: Child Labour and Education Policy in comparative Perspective, Princeton: Princeton University Press
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