Child rights panel to monitor RTE act

NEW DELHI - The apex child rights panel Thursday welcomed the implementation of the much-awaited Right to Education (RTE) act and said that it looks forward to taking on the responsibility of monitoring its successful implementation.

The act will provide free and compulsory education to children in the age group of 6-14 and specially focus on bringing 8.1 million children of this age group back to the classroom.

A special division of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) will monitor the implementation of the act.

NCPCR welcomes the formal notification of this act and looks forward to playing an active role in ensuring its successful implementation. A special division within NCPCR will undertake this huge and important task in the coming months and years, an official statement said.

A special toll-free helpline to register complaints will be set up by NCPCR for this purpose, it added.

Calling on civil society and others to play an active role in the implementation of the act, the statement further said: We invite all civil society groups, students, teachers, administrators, artists, writers, government personnel, legislators, members of the judiciary and all other stakeholders to join hands and work together to build a movement to ensure that every child of this country is in school and is able to get at least eight years of quality education.