Article Type: Research Article Article Citation: Sudip Mandal.
(2020). ROLE OF LOCAL AUTHORITY FOR IMPLEMENTING RTE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF
SECONDARY SCHOOLS AT THE BALI-I & BALI-II PANCHAYAT AREAS FROM GOSABA IN
WEST BENGAL, INDIA. International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH, 8(12), 201-210.
https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v8.i12.2020.2695 Received Date: 04 December 2020
Accepted Date: 31 December 2020
Keywords: Right to
Education Local Self
Government Article 21A Fundamental
Rights This study mainly in respect of the RTE Act. 2009 implementing phase and the actual accountabilities as local self-government (Bali-I & Bali-II panchayat) to actualize the execution of RTE. It is indicating of intensive study on a particular case and it is not a critical approach but an exploratory study. This study had been done following the descriptive survey method. The present researcher has been collected primary, secondary data through the questionnaires, interview sheets, various reports and other relevant sources. Main purposes of present study are to focus the role of local self-government as the monitoring agencies to execute RTE, so that common people as both urban and rural areas will be able to know actual what types as educational privileges, they can consume from state authority. Major findings of this study are that headmasters have given positive feedback about the local government for cooperating and Local self-government plays a particularly important role as the main partner of the Right to Education and it is preferred by most students and teachers.
1. INTRODUCTION"Education
is manifestation of the perfection already in man"--Swami Vivekananda. Education brings
consciousness and revolution takes place through the hands of consciousness. Education can make a good
citizen. “Education” is the
weapon to change the world, live a quality life
with the respect and dignity. It can only help in shaping a good society. Education is the most powerful
tool which can shape the destiny of an individual as well as the whole nation.
It is a very well-known fact that education is a dynamic process which starts from birth and ends till death.
Standing in this place, it is very important to have a
minimum education system for every citizen of every country. Because education alone can
build people as conscientious and responsible good citizens. It is not possible for a
person to develop as a good citizen without a minimum of education. We live in a miserable country
where even after 50 years of independence, people still do not have the right
to a minimum education. The main purpose of democratic governance is to achieve maximum
development of the individual. The development of the individual requires an
environment of independence.
There are two pillars of democracy-- Liberty and
Equality. Liberty is
the product of rights. In each democratic state,
certain rights are recognized and protected for the development of individuals. In a democratic society Liberty should distribute
on the basis as equality. In India Constitution
provides right to liberty as fundamental right which has
already been incorporated under article 19 to 22. Right to liberty ensures people to
live there in lives freely and with dignity. This right to liberty as well as right to life cannot be assured unless it is accompanied by right to education. The special rights of citizens need to be acknowledged and protected in
a democratic state. The fundamental right is the basic right of a democratic
state. According to D.D. Basu fundamental right is
on which is protected and guarantee by the written constitution of the state". Though till the nineteenth century, education in India was an exclusive right
available only to a small section of society. Under British rule, in spite of
compulsory education laws, not much progress was made in this direction. Since colonial times India had provincial legislation that allowed the provincial governments to notify areas where “free and compulsory education" could be provided. After independence all though these legislations were carried forward by the state governments. Since the Indian Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950,
sections 29th and 30th of the Constitution have been recognized as educational
and cultural rights. Post-independence, Article 45 of the newly framed
Constitution stated that the State shall endeavour to provide within a period
of 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution, free and compulsory
education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years". National
Policy on Education, 1968 was the first official document which attested Indian
Governments commitment towards elementary education. This was further
emphasized in the National Policy on Education, 1986. In the review of the
policy in 1990, it was recommended to include Right to Education as a
fundamental right in the constitution, on the basis of which National policy on
Education 1992 which
was formulated. The Supreme Court first recognised the right to education as a
fundamental right in Mohini Jain v. Union of India (1992). In the case of J. P.
Unnikrishnan vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (1993 ), the Court observed that: The
right to education which is implicit in the right to life and personal liberty
guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. According to UNO president Kofi Annan quoted that "Education is a human right with immense power to transformation rest the cornerstones of
freedom, democracy and sustainable human development". According to Earl Warren, Chief Justice of US Supreme Court "education is parhaps the most
important function of state and local
government". In the present scenario of
globalisation, teachers are the most fundamental actors in the field of
education. Notwithstanding Right to education for all" is the most difficult task which is faced by
the national community because poverty is one of the major
causes of population and illiteracy in India. As a third world country, a large
number of the people of India live below the poverty line and at the same time,
keeping the world hunger index
(Neighboring countries in 2020) below the rank of India in other third world
countries, education for the people of that country means only luxury. There is
a lack of education behind the poverty alleviation. Even after 50 years of
independence, this debilitating disease is still at home in India. India's largest democratic state in the world, India's democratic success depends on pure
public opinion. We can see significantly that in most of the general elections
held from 1952 to 2019, the participation and duties of the people are
noticeably lacking in most cases and the main reason for this is lack of public
awareness and education. At the same time although
elected by the people, they are avoiding their responsibility, because illiteracy
is working behind him. It is pity
that our great nation failed to eradicate the menace of illiteracy even after
65 years of independence and we have failed to provide "education for all
children in India" which is a scandalous chapter in the history of the
world. After
unresponsive and sluggish attitude as political authority
for a long-time government as India in the year 2002 took a
decision to provide right to education for all as right to education is the concomitant to Fundamental
Right. So, finally in 2002, the 86th amendment to the Constitution introduced
Article 21-A making the right to education a fundamental right. For
the first time in independent Indias history a
fundamental right had been added to the Constitution. Unlike other fundamental
rights the right to education required an enabling legislation to become
effective. The RTE Act is this enabling legislation. The RTE Act came into
force on April 1, 2010. 2.
OBJECTIVES OF
THE STUDY
The objectives of this study are as follows 1) To explore the aims of RTE to build welfare
Nation. 2) To find out the accountabilities of local self-government to execute RTE. 3) To try to know the policies taken by local self-government for implementing RTE. 4) To show the relation between local self-Government and educational
institutions to actualise RTE both in
rural and urban areas. 5)
To elicit challenges faced by local self-government in time of implementing RTE. 3.
RESEARCH
QUESTION
The research questions of this study are as
follows 1) How RTE can help to bring universalisation of
education in practice? 2) What are the roles
played by local self-governments for offering RTE to all, especially
to children belong up to 14th years? 3) How do local self-governments act as the bridge in
between stakeholders and policy makers? 4) How do local self-governments guide to local educational institutions to follow the SSA and RMSA as the policies of universalisation
of education declared by RTE? 5)
What are the policies taken by local self-governments to check dropout and stagnation? 4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Does not mean cynical approach. It is indicating
of intensive study on a particular case and it is a course of Investigation
where facts have been discovered by scientific method. This study had been done following the descriptive survey method and the present researcher had followed the manners of data collection and data analysis as
directed by that method. 5. SOURCE OF DATA
The primary data had been collected from the Gosaba block at the Bali-I & Bali-II-gram panchayat belonged to the six secondary schools of class VIII standared and the
secondary data had been gathered from the various reports of schools and other sources. Headmasters and Assistant Teachers opinion had been collected
with a self-made questionnaire. 6. TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION
In this study researcher used questionnaire, interview sheet; as the tools of
data collection. 7. INTERPRETATION AND
ANALYSIS
7.1.
HEADMASTERS OF SCHOOLS
Most of the Headmasters of the respective schools are in favour of Local Self Government
as if Local Self Government is the supporting agency of the Right to Education
Act. 2009. The headmasters have given positive feedback about the local government
for cooperating on the following subjects. ·
Dropout Students: The local government assists the school in implementing the Right to
Education Act by providing information on the financial status of the families
of dropout school students. In some cases
it also helps with the student's home address. At the
same time, the local government went to the student's house and tried to find
out the reason for the dropout. The local government makes parents aware of
their importance of right to education, study without pay, back to the mainstream of study
and arranges for them to send their children to school. ·
Books supply: In some cases, the local government provides books, notebooks, pens, bags, etc.
to the poor, gifted and students living below the poverty line so that they can
study. So, the students are not to deviate from the study. ·
Mid-Day-Meal Programme: In some cases, the
local government cooperates, even though it does not see the whole matter of the mid-day meal. However, the
local government has built mid-day-meal house and mid-day meal sheds in some
schools. In some cases local self-government helps in
Mid-Day-Meal kitchen purpose and built in the ground water infrastructure for
supplying the drinking water. ·
Co-operation: The local government cooperates with the schools in various aspects
such as conducting football matches, conducting school management and cultural
programs. It also enriches the school with cooperation and advice on all
matters. Local government and block departments help students
with books, notebooks, pens, bags, shoes. ·
Annual Sports Competition: The local government co-sponsors the school's annual sports event and
encourages students to be rewarded at the end of the sport. At the joint
initiative of the local government and the school, sports competitions are
organized at the block and district level with the first and second place
winners of various sports. Attempts are made to
develop the mental, physical and latent talents of the students through sports. ·
Financial Assistance: The local government arranges for the students to receive all the
government scholarships available to them. The local
government provides financial assistance to the poor, meritorious, economically
weaker section and living below the poverty line students so that they can
study. The local government provides financial support for environmental
cleanliness in some schools. ·
Cultural Programme: Students need to develop mental health as well as physical health. With that in mind, cultural programs are organized in the
school every year. The local government cooperates in conducting these cultural
programmes and encourages them to lead a brighter life in the future and also rewarded the students who participated in the cultural program. For the above subjects
the Headmasters makes positive comments about local self-government. 7.2.
ASSISTANT TEACHERS OF THE SCHOOLS
Assistant teachers comment on mixed trends. A few Assistant Teachers have given their opinion in favour
and most of the assistant teachers have remark that local self-government is
good but for the actualization of RTE more responsibility from the local self-government
are needed. As local self-government is not interested to recruit the
additional teachers. So, they are not interested to involve in teaching affairs
of teachers. 7.3. INTERPRETATION
OF STUDENTS' OPINION
Table 1: Bali-I and Bali-II G.P. in Government Aided High School Level of Class
VIII Standard
'Y’ represent here Yes and 'N' represent here No. 7.4.
OBJECTIVE WISE INTERPRETATION
·
Objective 1. To find out the accountabilities of local self-government to execute RTE. ·
Answer to Research Questions 1) What roles are played by local self-governments for offering RTE to all, especially to children belong up to 14th years?
Figure 1: Percentage of Schools Students opinion Items No:1 ·
Interpretation: From figure no. 1 represent here, table no. 1 item-1 it is found that 42.1
% of the students are responsible for the implementation of the Right to
Education Act.2009 but 57.9 % of the students are of the opinion that the local
government is not responsible.
So, it is clear that the
local government is very apathy to the implementation of the Right to Education Act. 2009.And the local
government is not accountable for the right to education for all children
between the ages of 6th and 14th. ·
Objective 2 To explore the aims of RTE to build welfare
Nation. ·
Objective
3 To show the relation
between local self-Government and educational institutions to actualise RTE both in rural and
urban areas. ·
Answer to Research Questions 1) How RTE can help to bring universalisation of
education in practice? 2)
How local self-governments guide to local educational institutions to follow the SSA and RMSA as the policies of universalisation
of education declared by RTE? Figure 2: Percentage of
Schools Students opinion Items
No: 2 ·
Interpretation: It is seen that Fig. no. 2 in item-2nd of table no. 1, 71.93% of the students gave positive and 28.07% gave negative
feedback. On the basis of this questions most of the learners gave their response positive. So, it is clear that
through building the welfare nation the aim of RTE is to universalization of
elementary education as well as secondary education. To build welfare nation
the aim of RTE is universalization of elementary education act to exercise of
this. It has been observed that local self-government
has been shouldering their respective duties. ·
Objective 4. To try to know the policies taken by local self-government for
implementing RTE. ·
Answer to Research Questions 1) How local self-governments act as the bridge in between stakeholders and policy makers? Figure 3: Percentage of Schools Students Opinion Items No: 3 ·
Interpretation: From Fig. no. 3 is seen that in item-3rd of
table no. 1, 67.64 percent students
gave positive and 32.36 percent negative opinions on the basis of specific
questions and answers. It is very clear that the local government shouldered the
responsibility of implementing the policy of implementation of Right to
Education Act. 2009.The local government acts as a good communicator among the
stakeholders and policy makers. ·
Objective 5. To elicit challenges faced by
local self-government in time of implementing RTE. ·
Answer to Research Questions: 1) What policies taken by local self-governments
to check dropout
and stagnation?
Figure 4: Percentage of Schools Students Opinion Items No: 4 ·
Interpretation: Fig. no. 4 is seen that in item-4th of table no. 1, 69.7 percent of the
students gave yes and 30.3 percent gave no opinion on the basis of specific
questions. Based on the positive opinions of most of the students, it is proved
that the local government plays an important role in controlling drop outs and
stagnation in the implementation of the Right to Education Act. Figure 5: Percentage of Overall Schools Students Opinion ·
Interpretation: All the students in the six
schools, 62.8 percent said yes and 37.2 percent said no opinions but it has
cleared that most of the students are favoring the
RTE through the local government. Students are supporting the Right to
Education Act.2009 because it gives them many opportunities.It is clear that the image of local government
is much brighter and more action-oriented in implementing the Right to
Education Act.2009. 8. MAJOR FINDINGS
1) This pre concerns specially headmasters and assistant teachers they are in favour of Right to Education Act.
2009 and they think that Right to Education Act.2009 is the milestones for the
Universalization of Elementary Education in them. Or Most of the head
masters and assistant teachers think that the Right to Education Act.
2009 is favorable for actualization of
Universalization of Elementary Education. 2) local self-government is the supporting agency of RTE- this is the view
points of the most of the facilitator. 3) Though local self-government is treated as supporting agency but more
responsibility is needed to shoulder this schooling and learning system. 4) It is found that local self-government shows their apathy to involve the RTE affairs in their local educational
institutions. 5) Students are in favour of RTE as this act provide them multiphases
educational opportunities. 9. DISCUSSION AND MAJOR FINDINGS
1) Why most of the head masters & assistant teachers
remark in favour of RTE. As RTE favour to Education as fundamental right has
paved the way for universalization of education in this connection most of the
head masters & assistant teachers are trying to realize utility of the Act. 2) As in public administration Peterself mentioned staff-line
theory. Here 'Staff' means decision making authority and 'line' means decision implementing unit. Government of India made Right to Education
Act. 2009 and this act will be implemented
by the different types of local self-government both in rural and urban areas.
In our country where three tire administration (Central, State and Local Self
Government) are going on to here local government have
been shouldering their respective duties to implement this act through the
different types of educational institutions. They also look after the academic
atmosphere where necessary. 3) Generally local self-government acts as the observer or monitoring unit of this right to
education but more attention to implement this RTE needed regarding mid-day
meal, regarding the neutrious foods, regarding the
sanitation, regarding the physical infrastructure of the schools, here more visigilance of the local self-government is desirable. 4) In time of data collection present researcher
has observed that most of the
assistant teachers of the respective schools have some limitations about the
role of local self-government. They think that as local self govt. is not the
recruiting authority of the teachers or as they are not interested to recruit
the teachers, they do not to involve the school’s affairs as well as teachers
of the schools they also do not boder their
guardianship. 5) Through the RTE government provides different types of educational opportunities through
the learner such as books, notebooks, pen, shows, bag, no capitation fees, on screening test, no punishment, provide to remedial
class, redressal of grievances, a lot of educational opportunities has been offered by the government.
So, most of the learners are in favour of this RTE. Earlier RTE educational facilities of the learner was synchronis,
it has been expanded through the Right to Education. 10. CONCLUSION
RTE is an important step in making child rights
a reality. Through this, children get various kinds of assistance from the
government only for the purpose of education. Stakeholders of the Right to
Education Act are constantly striving for its proper implementation across the
country. Local government plays a particularly important role as the main partner
of the Right to Education and is preferred by most students and teachers. However, the new India will
emerge in the coming days through proper implementation of the Right to
Education Act.2009. Without this study it is
evident that the local governments are quite fully active for the implimentation of RTE Act but in few cases thy are too much
liberal. In this respect they must have to more causous
in education sector. Notwithstanding researcher is very much hopeful
that, despite the huge of limitations, the study would evidence to be useful at
the guiding and implementing role of local authority for RTE actualization of elementary level viz upper primary education in our
country. 11. SUGGESTIONS FOR FARTHER STUDY
This study has not covered all the fields. It may help in various reaserch work such as 1) In future a comparative study may be done
with different districts of West Bengal. 2) Broad Aspect Comparative study of West Bengal can be done with different
states level of India. 3) This study can also be done gender wise. 4)
This study can also be done
with the attitude of male Headmasters and Assistant teachers. SOURCES OF FUNDING
This
research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public,
commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The
author have declared that no competing interests exist. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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