District and Sessions Judge, Imphal West cum Chairman, DLSA, Tamenglong Aribam Guneshwar Sharma said that it is the fundamental right of all the children that every child of the age of six to 14 years has the right to free and compulsory education till the completion of his or her elementary education i.e., from first class to eight class.
Sharma was speaking at the online ‘capacity building programme’ for para legal volunteers of Tamenglong and Noney district organised by District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Tamenglong on the topic ‘Right to Education’ in collaboration with Manipur State Legal Services Authority (MASLSA) under the aegis of NALSA on Monday.
Now, schemes like SSA, RMSA etc. have been implemented for securing the right to education up to graduate level, he said.
Assistant professor of Royal Academy of Law, Oinam Km Khundrakpam Rajlakshmi as the resource person of the programme said that the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 has been enacted to provide for free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to 14 years.
She highlighted the salient features of the RTE Act including importance of School Management Committee, School Development Plan etc.
She spoke about four types of schools, namely government school, sided school, school of specified category and unaided school. Every school or person shall not collect any capitation fee like donation or contribution or payment other than the fee notified by the school for admission, she said.
Screening procedure i.e., the method of selection for admission of a child in preference over another other than a random method is also not allowed, she further said, adding there is a strict prohibition that teachers shall not engage themselves in private tuition.
It is the duty of every parent and guardian to admit or cause to be admitted their child or ward to an elementary education in the neighborhood school, she said.
She further said that a school belonging to specified category like Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sainik School or any other school, having a distinct character and an unaided school/private school shall admit in Class I to the extent of at least 25 per cent of the strength of that class, children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged group in the neighborhood and provide free and compulsory elementary education till its completion.
A child belonging to the weaker section is a child whose parents’ income does not exceed Rs 40,000 per annum, she added.
