Sibal to meet stakeholders to resolve RTE issues

With a number of concerns being raised about implementation of the Right to Education Act,the HRD Ministry will next month meet all stakeholders concerned to resolve outstanding issues....

With a number of concerns being raised about implementation of the Right to Education Act,the HRD Ministry will next month meet all stakeholders concerned to resolve outstanding issues.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday said several issues related to RTE implementation had come to his notice and the ministry would now work on ways to sort these out.

Experts and stakeholders like school principals,teachers and civil society will meet on August 14 to find ways to address the issues.

Problems dogging RTE implementation include the contentious screening issue. While the Act seems to suggest there should be no screening mechanism used in determining student admissions to schools,several private schools have objected to this criterion. Private schools apart,the likes of Navodaya Vidyalayas,which are mandated to provide modern education to talented children from remote areas,have also requested the HRD Ministry to be exempted from the screening clause.

Meanwhile,a parliamentary standing committee on HRD submitted its report on Friday on the amendments proposed to the RTE Act. It backed the proposed amendment to bring children with all kinds of disabilities under the cover of the Act.