BENGALURU: With the implementation of Right To Education Act, the government is encouraging the privatisation of education, said Baragur Ramachandrappa, chairperson, Textbook Revision Committee (TRC), here on Sunday.
He said that RTE, in its current form, should be scrapped. Rather than paying private schools to admit students from economically backward communities,
the government should reserve seats for such students, he said.
He was speaking at a session on “Compiling textbooks based on Scientific and Democratic Ideals”, organised by All India Save Education Committee.
Noting that the State Government was paying `165 crore to private schools under RTE, he said the funds could be used for the
development of government schools.
“RTE delivers a bad message that government schools are not good,” he said.
A decision to this effect has been taken by the state government and has been communicated to the Centre. Since, amendments to RTE must be enacted by the Centre, it should take a decision on it, he said.
Name Change
During the meeting, he said that the proposal of changing the name TRC to Comprehensive Review and Restructuring Committee. This would empower the body to rewrite the textbooks.
He said that new textbooks will be introduced in schools from the next academic year (2017-18). “Revising textbooks is under process and is expected to be completed by May 2016. Some parts of the existing textbooks will be revised, while others will be reconstructed,” he said.
The process of collecting opinions for textbooks is on. The panel has received recommendations and objections, which will be considered on merit. “However, if any chapters are found violating the ideals of the Constitution, they will be removed or revised,” he said.