The future of every nation lies in the little hands and feet of our children. Keeping this in mind, the right to primary education is now being provided to every girl and boy. In this context Article 21A of the Indian Constitution stipulates that no child aged 6 to 14 would have to pay any fees on admission into a government or government-aided recognized school. Primary education which improves children’s awareness is the first stage of compulsory education and generally covers the first six or seven years of school life. It opens opportunities and is the first step in reducing inter-generational poverty. The early years of learning are the incubator for the next generation of leaders, thinkers and innovators. Education is not about preparing for life. It is life itself. Understanding that education plays a major role in every child’s life the union government came out with the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2009 and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The NEP aims at promoting premium education at an affordable cost for all.
Raising and maintaining higher standards of education remains a challenge to all educators even after 75 years of independence. Education in India is poised at an interesting inflexion point. On the one hand, it is set to shed an outdated model for the new National Economic Policy 2020 which is all set to create new benchmarks. On the other hand, new digital platforms of learning and innovative techniques of teaching are propelling it to global standards to create new benchmarks. The quality of human capital is the touchstone of education in any country. A well-educated generation with a high literacy rate is equipped to undertake social, economic, and political roles responsibly with an overarching awareness of global issues. Such is the vision embedded in the NEP 2020, which, when fully implemented, promises to make education holistic and a lot more satisfying. NEP 2020, with its provisions of revamping the curriculum structure, assessment criteria and regulations, promises a brand new approach to teaching and learning. Teaching and learning will be more interactive, exploratory, collaborative, experiential and exciting.
Education helps individuals make informed choices, join the workforce, and ensure that future generations are educated as well. Education is the passport to freedom for any individual and has always been recognised as the most powerful tool that would bring the required change needed in this world where the divide between the haves and have-nots; the privileged and the destitute keeps increasing every day. Primary education is the grass-root level of education for every individual. It forms the basis upon which all the other levels of education rest.
Communication and reading skills are directly associated with primary school learning. It is here that our young ones/students are provided an opportunity to socialise, make friends and develop communication skills. Under the aegis of the new act, children are encouraged to think independently rather than earlier methods of spoon-feeding where students were given no space to express their views and opinions.
In August 2009, Parliament passed the historic Right to Education (RTE) Act to make education the fundamental right to all 6 to 14-year-olds. The legislation stipulated various norms to ensure that children got not just access to school, but also quality education. The learning environment dramatically affects the learning outcomes of students. In this connection school management was required to provide a conducive child-friendly atmosphere to children enrolled in their institutions. Some of the directions included: clean drinking water; separate and sufficient toilets for girls and boys; boundary walls; ramps; playgrounds; better libraries and laboratories. Proper ventilation and light, additional staircase (to prevent a stampede in case of fire); fire equipment; regulating the numbers of children in a classroom to avoid over-crowding. Mid-day meals and transport were made available free of cost to children to encourage those out of school to come into the formal education system. Most managements adhered to these directions which were all part of the outcome of the New Education Policy (NEP) and some were Supreme Court directions.
The recent national survey report 2021 which comes as a shock, has indicated a sharp drop in the quality of education imparted in Goa. Who is to blame for this? Is it poor teaching standards or Nelson’s eye turned by the directorate of education to the mushrooming of private non-formal schools? Time for the department to pull up its socks and go on a strict inspection of all schools verifying how safe their premises are for children and how child-friendly their classrooms are? The education imparted in Goa needs a serious review. Our dropout rate is extremely high and alarming. A large number of children in Goa still remain out of our formal educational system. These children are not only deprived of their right to proper education but they lose their childhood to earn bread for a living. A clarion call to upgrade and improve educational standards in Goa is the need of the hour. Children studying in non-formal institutions need to be brought into the mainstream formal schools where teachers are better trained and they would have opportunities for a brighter future. A policy of inclusion where all children are brought into formal schooling will certainly lead to a lower dropout rate and a better quality education for them.
(The writer is a social scientist and a senior practising criminal lawyer)
