Ten-year-old Salina Khatun was denied admission by the neighborhood school as her illiterate parents failed to produce a birth certificate. Her parents work in a brick kiln and, like thousands who are constantly on the move in search of livelihood, paperwork is as distant to them as their rights. Close to two years since the much feted Right to Education Act came into being, the status of school education continues to be plagued by lack of awareness, assertion and access, especially among the communities which need it the most for the transforming potential it has on poverty and social empowerment.
A public hearing in Kolkata’s Town Hall threw up some answers as to why, despite the greatest constitutional recognition and substantial resources, the status of school education continues to be in a poor state.
The hearing was organized by the National Commission for Protection for Child Rights (NCPCR), on the issue of denial of the right to education. It was supported by a host of organizations, including Action Aid India, who painstakingly collected stories from the field to build a case for a jury to issue directions on making it work.
For millions who live on less than an euro a day, and for a nation where over 40 per cent of the children are malnourished, free education and mid-day-meal provisions are key conditions for school education to work.
Incidentally, the officials from the state education department who were called in for responding to the cases of violations did not deny any of the allegations. This led the NCPCR to suggest a penalty of Rs. 25,000 as a fine for violations to the law. The hearing expanded to a discussion on trafficking and it became apparent that a functional schooling system is the best defense against this practice.
"It seems that the issue is not of resources but that of will", NCPCR Chairperson Shanta Sinha said.
