Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Feb 24: State Cabinet today constituted a Cabinet Sub-Committee to work out comprehensive piece of legislation for providing free and compulsory education to the children. Headed by Deputy Chief Minister, the committee will analyze the provisions of extant laws and the recommendations made by the School Education Department before submitting report to the Cabinet for final decision.
Sources told EXCELSIOR that after going through the draft J&K Right of Children to Free and Compulsory School Education Bill prepared by the School Education Department on the directions of Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, Cabinet found it appropriate to have detailed analysis of the recommendations made by the School Education Department before arriving at any conclusion.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister and comprising Minister for Law, Mir Saifullah, Minister for Rural Development, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Medical Education, Taj Mohi-ud-Din and Minister for Housing, Raman Bhalla, would examine the recommendations of the School Education Department, provisions of Central Right to Education Act and existing laws of the State on the subject before making recommendations to the Cabinet within a specified time-frame, sources informed.
“This decision was taken to prepare a comprehensive piece of legislation with no scope for clash with the provisions of Compulsory Education Act, 1935, Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and School Education Act”, sources informed.
The School Education Department, after a detailed exercise and in consultation with the Law Department, has not only proposed incorporation of ethos, approach and instrumentalities of the Central RTE Act of 2009 but also suggested retention of certain provisions of extant law, sources said, adding in a couple of elements the Department has moved beyond the RET Act.
The recommendations of the School Education Department, which would be debated by the Cabinet Sub Committee, suggest that every child of the age of 4-14 years (as against 6-14 years age group in the Central Act) should have a right to free and compulsory elementary education including at least one year of pre-school.
It has also suggested formulation of Village Education Plan, which will provide the basis for bottom-up paradigm of decentralized planning, prohibition of any person causing interference with the child’s right to free and compulsory elementary education, compulsory/need-based and quality-specific professional development programmes for teachers in private schools and opening up of DIETs and SIEs, periodical assessment of training and professional developmental needs of teachers in recognized private schools.
The School Education Department has also recommended that the duties of teacher should include completion of entire curriculum within the specified time with thrust on equity and inclusion so as to ensure expected learning outcomes along all children and unaided schools should have a school management committee.
These recommendations were made by the School Education Department after detailed exercise, which includes eliciting of comments from stakeholders like students, scholars, teachers, advocates, media persons and researches. Two workshops were also organized with participation of eminent experts and RTE activists from different parts of the country.
These recommendations were also discussed in the State School Education Advisory Board.
Meanwhile, Cabinet accorded sanction to the creation of 314 posts of various categories for implementation of ICDS in the mission mode in the State.
It also gave nod to the transfer of State land measuring 240 Kanals & 09 Marlas situated in village Nardi, Tehsil Akhnoor on lease basis, in favour of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, Union Ministry of HRD for establishment of Navodaya Vidyalaya.
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