Panel to monitor right to education law implementation

NEW DELHI - As the government prepares to implement the right to education law from 2011, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Tuesday announced setting up a committee to monitor quality.

We are setting up a committee which can set the guidelines for quality of education under the law, said Kiran Bhatty, right to education division head at NCPCR

The NCPCR member said that keeping quality issues out of the legal framework of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) was deliberate as it wanted to provide flexibility to teachers.

She said there was no clear norm for assessing quality. The law did not want very strict norms on how to teach.

A monitoring mechanism will also be put in place by the NCPCR to check the facilities available at schools, she said.

There will be a checklist which will have points like whether or not a school has a boundary wall, a toilet, or what is the student-teacher ratio. The information will be uploaded on our website, she said.

The task will also involve appointing monitors at the state level. A complaint redressal management system will also be put in place online, she said.

A hotline, which will be a central helpline, will also be there for registering complaints such as corporal punishment. It will be set up in partnership with private operators before the next financial year, she said.