Do not amend Section 16 of RTE Act, say delegates

Senior Fellow and Programme Head (Education), Centre for Child and the Law, VP Niranjanaradhya, based on the delegates’ deliberation, announced ‘Vijayawada Declaration’.
VP Niranjanaradhya reading out the ‘Vijayawada Declaration’ during the event held in city on Wednesday I R V K Rao
VP Niranjanaradhya reading out the ‘Vijayawada Declaration’ during the event held in city on Wednesday I R V K Rao

VIJAYAWADA: During the two-day Southern Regional Consultation on the Implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), organised by RTE Forum and Save the Children, delegates from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana said there was a need to include the Act in the political agenda by the next session of the Parliament. 
Senior Fellow and Programme Head (Education), Centre for Child and the Law, VP Niranjanaradhya, based on the delegates’ deliberation, announced ‘Vijayawada Declaration’.

Addressing the gathering, Niranjanaradhya called upon the Central government to withdraw the bill to amend Section 16 of the Act, which states that no child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of elementary education. Once the bill is approved, education will reach all children, irrespective of their caste, creed or social status, he said. 

“The Central government should allocate 6 per cent of the GDP and the State governments at least 25 per cent of their state budgets towards care, protection and development of children’s right to equitable education,” he said, adding that right to equitable quality education of children up to 18 years should be a prime agenda in the forthcoming Parliamentary and Assembly Elections.

Karnataka State Government Primary School Teachers Association president Basavaraj Gurikar said state governments should come up with measures to create awareness among people about the provisions of the Act. They should recognise the role of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) in creating this awareness and implementing the Act, and should understand that the community at large is a critical stakeholder in the process. Privatization and commercialization of education should be stopped and governments should make sure their schools educate children to grow up and create a cohesive society,” he added.

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