Education law in India violates rights, Church officials
May 14, 2013: A law introduced three years ago to ensure universal education for
all children violates minority rights and it needs to be amended, says Indian bishops'
education officials.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India’s education
Secretaries from various regions met recently in New Delhi to formulate a memorandum,
suggesting amendment to the Right to Education (RTE) act.
They want exempt
all Minority institutions, government aided and non-aided, from the purview of the
act saying it violates their rights.The act, enacted in 2009, makes education a fundamental
right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14. It requires all private schools
to reserve 25 percent of seats to children of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections,
determined by the government.
The Catholic school officials say their schools
are doing much more than what the law requires, but being bound by the law violates
rights guaranteed in the constitution to religious and linguistic minorities to establish
and manage their own institutions. They also said being bound by such a law makes
them subject to harassment by officials.
Some 25 people from across India attended
the meeting lead by Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios, the Chairperson of the bishops' Office
for Education and Culture. The chairman of the Parliamentary committee for Human Resource
Development Oscar Fernandes paused few points about the provision and intent of the
Act.
He said he was fully aware of the fact that Christian minority institutions
are doing more than what is envisaged as far as educating the poor and weaker sections
of society was concerned. He assured that we could present the memorandum and he would
place it before the parliamentary committee and call for a hearing and see what needs
to be done towards the amendment.
The Church officials plan to submit the memorandum
to Prime Minister, UPA Chairperson and the Education Minister before the monsoon session
of the Parliament.