COMMENTARY

RTE and Marginal Communities

A Perspective from the Field
Bibhuti Bhushan Malik

This article highlights the

educational conditions of
marginalised communities in the
context of the Right to Education
Act in terms of educational
status, opportunity and access
to education. Further, a modest
attempt is made to encapsulate
the gaps in implementing the RTE.

Bibhuti Bhushan Malik (bbmalik57@gmail.com) is

with the Department of Sociology, Babasaheb
Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow.
Economic & Political Weekly

EPW

JANUARY 31, 2015

he role of education in facilitating

social and economic progress or
development is understood and
recognised. Education helps improve
functional and analytical abilities and
opens up opportunities for individuals
and groups, and enables access to the
labour market, providing livelihood to
people. Education is not a mere tool to
enhance efficiency, but an effective
mechanism to augur democratic participation in social life. Hence, education is
a dynamic and powerful force to usher
in social and economic empowerment;
but its effectiveness depends on its
spread, utilisation, and social circumstances. In this direction, one exemplary
effort is the Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act of 2009
(RTE), which came into effect after many
drafts. The Act seems to have an inclusive character, which seeks to raise the
educational standards of marginalised
communities, and to be an instrument
for any child to demand his/her basic
entitlement. Yet, a close look at provisions and their implementation reveals
disconcerting features.
vol l no 5

Uttar Pradesh has the highest percentage of dalits, Other Backward

Classes (OBCs), and minority populations. The RTE Act is being implemented since the last few years. In order
to understand issues concerning the
RTE a study has been undertaken in
Lucknow district. Tables 1 and 2 (p 26)
give a snapshot of Uttar Pradesh and
Lucknow district.
Methodology
Under the aegis of Sashakta Bachapan of
Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Vigyan
Foundation advocates the proper implementation of the RTE Act in Lucknow district. The foundation works in 48 slums
and 32 villages of the district. These 48
slums are scattered in 16 municipal
wards, and 32 villages are in 23 gram
panchayats and two blocks such as
Chinhat and Bukshi ka Talab.
Schoolgoing children and parents
constitute the respondent unit. From a
total of 16 sites, 80 respondents (five
from each slum/village) were purposively selected. Both male and female
students and their parents were selected.
The Truth of RTE
Community survey revealed that the
levels of awareness about RTE were
quite deplorable. None of the members
knew about this constitutional provision which guarantees children their
right to education. However, some
25

COMMENTARY
Table 1: Profile of Uttar Pradesh
Area
Population (Census 2011)
Male
Female
Population growth
Urban
Rural
Density/km2
Sex ratio

Table 2: Lucknow District At a Glance

2,40,928 sq km
19,98,12,341
10,44,80,510
95,53,31,831
20.23%
77.73%
22.27%
829
912 females
per 1,000 males
67.68%
77.28%
51.36%
65.46%
75.14%

Literacy
Male
Female
Rural
Urban
Number of educational institutions
(MHRD/other sources)
Elementary schools (2014)
Secondary schools (2014)
Degree colleges (2002-03)
Medical colleges (2009)
Govt engineering colleges (2012)
Private engineering colleges (2014)

2,40,332
22,853
940
21
15
369

teachers were aware that such an Act

was in operation.
Facilities in School: Most schools have
basic infrastructure such as school
building, library, toilet, kitchen, and
playground on their premises. Classrooms in most schools were inadequate,
and two or more classes were conducted
in the same room at the same time.
In most school premises where toilet
facility was available, students were not
allowed to use it. In 83.75% of cases toilets
were not used by students and were kept
locked. Likewise only 2.50% of toilets
were used separately by girls. No separate toilet for boys and girls were present
in schools, if such a facility was available
they were used by teachers. Students,
mostly girls, clean the classrooms.
About 72.5% of schools are situated at
less than half a kilometre (km) from the
residence of students, 23.75% of schools
are situated between half a km and 1 km
distance, and 3.75% of schools are located at a distance of about 1 km. The RTE
Act mandates that schools are situated
in neighbourhood localities of students.
Hence, distance from school is not a barrier for access to education here.
Teachers: Teachers punctuality and
attendance in school were ascertained,
and it was found that teachers come to
26

Area in sq km

2,528

Population
Persons
45,89,838
Males
23,94,476
Females
21,95,362
Population growth
25.82%
Rural
15,50,842
Urban
30,38,996
Proportion to Uttar Pradesh Population 2.30%
Number of households
8,52,187
Sex ratio (female per 1,000 males)
917
Sex ratio (0-6 Years)
915
Scheduled caste population
9,48,294
Percentage to total population
20.66
Scheduled tribe population
7,506
Percentage to total population
0.16
Child proportion (0-6 age)
11.84%
Boys proportion
11.86%
Girls proportion
11.83%
Important towns
Lucknow (M Corp)
28,15,601
Literacy and number of primary schools
Literates
Persons
31,27,260
Males
17,42,440
Females
13,84,820
Literacy rate
Persons
77.29
Males
82.56
Females
71.54
Schools
Government primary schools
1,403
Government upper primary schools
478
Source: Census 2011.

school regularly; however their timings

vary. They come to school as per their
convenience. It was found that 20% of
teachers teach students regularly, whereas 15% do not teach and 52% of teachers
teach sometimes and not regularly. It
was also understood that since teachers
do not come to school regularly, about
one-third of teachers were engaged in
interpersonal chatting as well as in other
kinds of work. About 16% of teachers
weave sweaters in winter and sit idle in
other seasons.
Pupil-Teacher Ratio: The pupil-teacher
ratio is given in Table 3.
The study finds that in government
primary schools, the student-teacher ratio
is one teacher per 67 students, i e, 67:1.
This underlines that after implementation of the RTE Act also the situation has
not improved. A big hurdle to implement
the RTE Act is the lack of qualified teachers,
and in almost all schools there are not

enough teachers; they are far below the requirements of the government provisions.
The quality of education is at stake.
Probably this is because teachers engaged
in teaching do not find students of their
caste and religion, especially uppercaste students. It is evident from the
study that nowadays the largest number
of students in government and aided
primary schools are from marginalised
sections, whereas upper-caste students
with relatively better economic conditions
go to private schools. In such a situation
girl students are the worst affected, as
most girl students feel discriminated on
caste and gender lines.
In Class 1, out of 741 students, 380 are
male and 361 female. Further, caste composition reveals that out of 741 students
only 27 belong to the general category,
232 are OBCs, 220 scheduled castes (SCs)
and 262 are Muslims. Hence, 96.35% were
students from SC, OBC and Muslim communities in Class 1. For every 20 students
from marginalised communities only one
comes from the general category. The
situation of government-aided primary
schools is neglected and dreadful mainly
because of such student composition.
Caste, Religion and Gender
The study reveals that 62.50% of students
feel discrimination on the basis of gender,
caste and religion. The behaviour of
teachers is governed by these categories.
Hierarchical mindsets and attitudes
Table 3: Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Surveyed Primary
Schools
Sl Name of the
No Primary School

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

JANUARY 31, 2015

Total
Pupils

Baraura
Bastauli
Gaur Bhith
Bhandotola
Barafkhana
Paltan Chhavani
Shahpur
Naubasta Kala
Chandan Gaon
Phattepur Gaon
Balram Nagar
Bhithauli Khurd
Bivi ganj
Goila
Gorvamau
Dasauli
Total
vol l no 5

EPW

275
295
222
423
80
232
82
131
144
161
288
131
172
185
228
79
3,128

Total
PupilTeachers Teacher Ratio
(Approx)

2
3
2
3
2
4
2
3
3
4
5
4
5
1
2
2
47

138 : 1
99 : 1
111 : 1
141 : 1
40 : 1
58 : 1
41 : 1
44 : 1
48 : 1
41 : 1
58 : 1
33 : 1
35 : 1
185 : 1
114 : 1
40 : 1
67 : 1

Economic & Political Weekly

COMMENTARY

which are prevalent in the larger context

of society affect interactions between
students and teachers in schools. The
level of discrimination varies on the basis
of caste and religious composition of
classrooms and also on the basis of
socio-economic background of students.
Scholarship and Accessories: School
administrations provide basic accessories
to ensure that the learning process
continues without any break due to the
lack of basic educational material. Accessories such as clothes, bags, books, and
scholarships are provided to students.
Mostly books, clothes and bags are provided in all schools but scholarships vary
as shown in Chart 1. In 92.5% of cases,
scholarship is given to students, while
the rest (7.5%) do not receive any. Of
the total number of students, 80% were
given Rs 300 scholarship but 20% received lower amounts of scholarship (as
shown in Chart 1). From the field study it
was observed that in some schools a fee
was charged during the first admission
and during each examination. The amount
varied from school to school. Admission
fees ranged from Rs 20 to Rs 35 and for
examinations it is from Rs 15 to Rs 20.
Chart 1: Distribution of Scholarships
Rs 480, 6.25%
No fellowship, 7.50%
Rs 150, 2.50%

Rs 250,
1.25%
Rs 290,
2.50%

Rs 300, 80%

School Management Committees: There

is a provision in the Act for involvement
of the community and parents for better
management of schools. The School
Management Committees (SMC) were
found to be present in 11.25% schools,
whereas 88.75% schools had no such
mechanism in place. Evidently, SMCs are
not operational, and exist only on paper.
Dropouts: The RTE Act states that a child
has the right to free and compulsory
education till they complete elementary
Economic & Political Weekly

EPW

JANUARY 31, 2015

education in a neighbourhood school,

but yet completion of elementary education is not achieved. Most schools reveal
that in Class 1 the number of students
enrolled was high, but enrolment consistently declined over the period of
elementary education. Retention of students up to Class 5 was abysmally low,
and the dropout rate was high, which
questions the credibility of implementation of the RTE Act.
Conclusion and Suggestions
About 44% of the schools surveyed have
no separate toilets for girls; all schools
are bereft of libraries; 60% of schools
do not comply with the mandated teacherpupil ratio of 1:30; 28% of schools do
not have a playground; 16.6% of schools
have no provision for drinking water;
around 45% of schools do not even have
their own boundary wall; more than
half of Class 2 and Class 4 students sit
together in one classroom; discrimination on the basis of caste and religion
is in practice; levels of awareness pertaining to RTE Act among communities
are low; and finally parents of students
are not aware of SMCs and the functioning of SMC is not effective. Free and
compulsory education is not fulfilled
and the purpose of the RTE Act remains
unachieved.
With multiple drawbacks it is clear
that to achieve sarv shiksha is an unfeasible task and remains an eyewash.
Hence there is an urgent need to strengthen delivery mechanisms in school
education, especially at the grass-roots
level. Further, there is a need to create
greater awareness at the community
level to implement various provisions
of the RTE Act. When a community is
more aware of provisions, they will be
able to claim what is due to them. This
would help in effective implementation
of this Act, not only in letter but also in

spirit. Another aspect of quality education is the nature of job conditions for
teachers. With a plethora of evidence, it
is found that differential remuneration
to teachers affects their motivation.
Further, while the RTE Act suggests
that no teacher be engaged in any
non-educational task, it excludes their
engagement in population census, duty
pertaining to disaster relief and elections at various levels.
The following suggestions can help
achieve and strengthen the RTE Act and
its provisions:
(1) Effective implementation of existing
provisions of the RTE Act is required and
engagement of civil society may be further
strengthened to make it more effective.
(2) Minimum pupil-teacher ratio should
be maintained in each school as per
the provisions. This will be possible by
recruiting more qualified and trained
teachers.
(3) Enough funds should be allocated
to develop infrastructural facilities in
schools.
(4) In order to make RTE more effective,
it is necessary to establish modality
through which the RTE Act is protected
and a system needs to be evolved to deal
with lacunae in implementation.
(5) Though the RTE Act has a provision
for including overage children in its ambit, in reality this is not happening;
hence proper groundwork needs to be
initiated with the help of civil society to
meet targets.
(6) Achieving the goal of equitable, quality
education for all requires progress along
multiple dimensions such as better policy,
stronger political commitment, superior
implementation, and higher community
involvement.
(7) Advocacy needs to be done by which
states should ensure all sanctioned posts
of teachers are filled up immediately to
achieve targets.

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