Double trouble hits education Act

The “dual administrative set-up” in the department of school education is an impediment to the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The Act, which will come into force on April 1, makes free and compulsory education a right to children in the age group of six to 14 years, till Class VIII.

Though only two days are left for the RTE Act to come into force, there is no clarity on its implementation either at the ministers’ level or at the officials’ level.

While school education from Classes I to X is handled by a single department in all other states, it is not the case in AP. In AP, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) department handles education from Classes I to V, while the directorate of school education controls Classes VI to X.

And, there is absolutely no co-ordination between the two bodies over the implementation of the RTE Act.

The two departments have not even held a “joint meeting” over the RTE Act.

In addition, the non-allocation of funds for the RTE Act in the state government’s Budget this year has further compounded the problem. The government is

banking on funds provided by the Centre towards the SSA scheme to implement the RTE Act. Co-ordination between the SSA and the school education department, is therefore, necessary in order to spend the funds appropriately.

The minister for primary education, Mr Ahamadullah, under whose purview the the SSA comes, said, “Funds meant for the SSA would be utilised to implement the RTE Act, but I have not received any communication from the department of secondary education.”

Meanwhile, the minister for secondary education, Mr D. Manikya Vara Prasada Rao, was clueless on the implementation of the Act.