Parliament passes RTE Bill

Differently-abled children can join any school

Parliament passed the Right of Children to Free and compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2012, with the Lok Sabha passing the measure on Wednesday, thereby providing for an integrated education process which would allow differently-abled children in the age group 6-14 the right of admission to any school.

Replying to a discussion on the Bill, which the Rajya Sabha had passed earlier, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal allayed fears expressed by Supriya Sule (NCP) and Priya Dutt (Congress) on home-based education for this category of children, saying a committee had been set up to issue guidelines as to the level at which such an arrangement should be made.

Mr. Sibal said he would incorporate the suggestion into the law as it was necessary to integrate the education process. He said there had to be a choice and it was for the parents to decide.

He assured the House that children suffering from various disabilities would be brought within the ambit of the Right to Education Act in due course.

Addressing the concerns expressed by minority community members over the establishment of a management committee for aided minority institutions, Mr. Sibal said it would function only in an advisory capacity.

As for shortages in schools, the Minister said the Centre had cleared the appointment of six lakh school teachers and it was now for the State governments to make the appointments and use the funds made available to them.

He, however, refused to reconsider the new system of comprehensive and continuous evaluation (CCA) at the level of the board examinations, saying the experiment was limited to 12,000 schools following the CBSE syllabus.

Most members supported Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's demand for conducting examinations even at the board level, stressing that now the State boards were not excluded from the purview of the Central government.

As regards a common curriculum, Mr. Sibal said such a system was being evolved, science and mathematics having already been brought within its ambit. Among other subjects, commerce would be covered next.

When Mr. Sibal did not commit himself to opening schools in minority-dominated areas for the benefit of the girl child, Mr. Prasad and his other party MPs of his party staged a walkout.

Source: The Hindu