SC seeks response of Centre, states on violation of Right to Education Act
RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT /
TEACHER ELIGIBILITY TEST INDIA /
NCTE GUIDELINES
Petition asked the states and the UTs to recruit and train one lakh additional professionally trained teachers every month.
The PIL, filed by the National Coalition for Education — a network of
organisations fighting for the RTE — said at least 1.5 lakh schools and
12 lakh trained teachers were required to fulfill the goals envisaged
under the RTE.
It sought a direction that "the states and UTs upgrade all deficient
schools with appropriate physical infrastructure so as to be in
compliance with the RTE Act within six months.
"The states and
UTs regularise and make permanent all contract and para-teachers in the
country," it said. The petition also said the states and UTs should
disclose the number of students admitted under the Economically Weaker
Section (EWS) quota in the state in accordance with the provisions of
the Act.
A
bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam issued notice and sought
their response after summer vacation on a plea filed by an organisation,
National Coalition for Education.
The plea said lack of
resources and failure to implement provisions of the RTE Act has
resulted in a significant decline in education performance.
Senior
advocate Colin Gonsalves sought a direction to all the states to
complete the required neighbourhood mapping within six months and new
schools be constructed six months after completion of the process.
The
petition asked the states and UTs to recruit and train one lakh
additional professionally trained teachers to end the shortage of
educators within a year.
It sought a direction that "the
states and UTs upgrade all deficient schools with appropriate physical
infrastructure so as to be in compliance with the RTE Act within six
months.
"The states and UTs regularise and make permanent all contract and para-teachers in the country," it said.
The
petition also said the states and UTs should disclose the number of
students admitted under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in
the state in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
"Based
on the aforementioned facts, it is clear that the Right to Education is
being violated across the country. These violations have persisted for
years and remain today in face of the RTE Act's requirement that they be
remedied within three years of it coming into force.
"And
more troubling, they persist despite widespread awareness of their
existence by various responsible governments and authorities and in the
face of previous orders from this court on October 3, 2012 to remedy
them," it said
