The Right to Education, a collective of over 10,000 civil society organizations, teachers union representatives, educationists, INGOs, rights based activists and other networks, expresses deep concern about the status of low paid, untrained and contract teachers on the eve of teachers day. It demands that the government takes immediate steps to improve their service conditions so that the quality of education can be enhanced in government schools.
Mr. Ambarish Rai, National Convener of the RTE Forum states, ‘Even after 5 years since the implementation of the RTE Act, 2009, states including Delhi continue to recruit teachers on a contractual basis. This is a complete violation of the RTE Act and against the spirit of the fundamental right to education’.
Presently, around 5 lakh teachers had to be given permanent position. The deadline for implementation of this task for set to be March, 2015. Although it has been months since the lapse of the deadline, no efforts are being taken by the government to implement the same or chalk out a plan of action. The condition of teacher training and teacher training institutes is equally poor; with most of the government run teacher training institutes lying dysfunctional. Moreover, 8.32 % schools are still single teacher schools in the country.
Mr Rai further added “On teacher’s day, instead of celebrations though ceremonies and functions, government should come up with a concrete plan to revive the teacher’s dignity and restore the quality of education in schools. Due to the neglect by the government of the condition of teachers and education system as a whole, almost one lakh government schools have shut down and the children have migrated to low cost, private schools. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the quality of education in these schools is not good. Without reforming the education system, we can never make our country a digital country.
September 4, 2015
Press Note by RTE Forum
