BATTLE FOR SCHOOL BY- Prof. Shantha Sinha

BATTLE FOR SCHOOL

Prof. Shantha Sinha

Prof. Shantha Sinha is an anti-child labour activist of international reputation. She is the founder of Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation, popularly known as MV foundation (which is named in memory of her grandfather Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiah), and is a professor in the Department of Political Science in Hyderabad Central University. She Headed the National Commission for the protection of Child Right for two consecutive terms (3years each); The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was setup in March 2007 under the commission for protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, an Act of Parliament (December 2005). Professor Sinha was its first Chairperson. She was awarded the Civilian honour of Padama Shri by the Government of India in 1998.

Children’s education should be treated as a national asset, said Sinha. Even though compulsory and free education for all the children up to 14 years of age has been affirmed – in the theory, atleast- since India became a nation in 1947; Children’s schooling in India has long been plagued by excuses and compromises that have been indefensibly costly for children who miss out on their right to learn.

Education helps kids bridge social inequalities, she noted, linking them to a large universe and encouraging self-confidence and self-esteem. School is also an effective way to support children’s physical health, for example, in the distribution of mid-day meals, said Sinha, in response to a question about the role of food in incentivizing education, raised by Meena Hewett, Executive Director of the Harvard University South Asia Institute.

Calling for a proactive priority on children’s rights, Sinha focused her reflection on the Right of Children to free and compulsory Education Act, which was passed in 2009 and entered into force on April 1 2010. The new education act represents “a huge paradigm shift”, said Sinha, focusing on the positive steps in child rights activism that can support and affirm what works. Instead of blaming teachers for poor schools, and improvised parents for sending their children work she said, the Act puts the bonus for children’s education on the state by requiring free compulsory education for all children between ages 6 and 14. Those who don’t complete education by 14 can benefited under Act up to age 18, and may start school at any time of the year without being delayed by paperwork and documentation ”red tape” .

Many children are still out of the school, often employed in child labour, and high school dropout continues. Experts also battle over data intended to measure the practical effectiveness of the Act, said Sinha; many officials claim that 90 percent of all the eligible children now in school, but looking at the same data, Sinha find the results closer to 50%. The educational challenge in India of parents pulling children from school for at an early age differs radically from China noted on participant in the informal conversation, since china forbids all Child Labour. Since the existing child labour Act in India does not prohibit all forms of Child Labour, the new Educational Act also appears to have limited effect on the attitudes of the legislature.

“The system has a total indifference to poor children.” said a lawyer who has worked with Sinha on legal efforts.

Despite such challenges, we should not underestimate the agency of children themselves in pushing for education, Sinha insisted. “GOING GLOBAL PREPARING LEADERS WORLDWIDE WORK LATEST ACTIVITIES ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION. “

Throughout her activism for children’s rights she has seen girls defy their parents by attending immense pressure to work. In many cases, she added, parents eventually came to recognize and praise the value of their daughter’s decisions.

“If you really want to change injustice you must start with some very clear principles. Ofcourse you need nuance. Ofcourse you need political skill.” She noted, “But the starting point has to be this sense of charity about what is not-negotiable.”

Reflection

I thankful to NCERT, mentors for giving me this opportunity to share some of my views on the education and battle for schools. If we want to change the education system we personally should change our mentality and aware others also about educational rights and benefits. Prof. shanta also talk about the discrimination on dress code which I personally want to throw out from our education system so that who so ever want education can get education without boundation of dress code and should be free. This lecture “battle for schools” by Prof. Shantha Sinha is lesson for all who want to change the education system.

·         It is the right to get education for every individual.

·         Education must be provided without any discrimination based on caste, race, sex, especially economic status.

·         There is a need to change our way of seeing reality. We must begin to acknowledge that the poor are making wholehearted efforts to send their children to school.

·         Education must be provided to girls also.

·         The inability of the poor to access schools.

·         Access is to be defined as the capacity of the system to reach out to the poor and in making all arrangements to get children into schools and keeping them there.

·         The function of schools in the context of developing societies where a large number of children remain out of school too needs to be redefined.

·         Changes in the school governance system and consequently in the processes of teaching and learning within the classroom.

·          Making school available at every kilometre or having the school next door.

·         Removing distance or coming closer would mean anticipating all the barriers that the poor children encounter and in making children feel wanted. 

·         School is a site for contestation of power.  In a more immediate sense schools are the only institutions, which can keep children out of work and abolish child labour.

·         Thus schools perform a radical function as they become protector of child rights. In fact the right place for children to be in is the school.

Conclusion

Shantha Sinha talks about fees in schools which is major issue for middle class parents, if they can’t afford the fees of school their children generally do work (child labour) to survive, I individually can’t change the education system but I can help those children I can teach them without fees and give them opportunities to educate and groom themselves. After listening the lecture about the school  I understand that before parents teachers plays a major and important role in educating the child, because till a teacher won’t be able to teach a student never take interest in class. Sometimes parents take education for granted they take the working child easy because their no certificate is required, at this situation a teacher awareness about fundamental rihjts of child for education can bring change in education system and thinking of society, that‘s all I learn and understand about battle for school or say a journey of child and parents to school.

Prof. Sinha, a child rights activist from India, argues that education is the key to lifting societies out of poverty.

“There is a very clear perception among the poor that it’s education, and education alone that can break the cycle of poverty and deprivation. They know it,” she says. “I think the rest of society doesn’t know that the poor aspire for education. And that seems to be the problem.”