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Children who have lost one or one parent to the Covid pandemic do not enjoy the benefits of flexible schooling from the Right to Education Act (RTE) or state aid to continue their schooling in a personal school until elegance 12, the National Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (NCPCR) informed the Supreme Court last week by asking for States and Union Territories to seek measures to ensure that the education of children reading in private schools is not disrupted.
The children’s rights body’s report follows a Jan. 6 order from the supreme court directing the commission to determine the situation in the courtroom in the states/UTs in relation to the implementation of its previous orders requiring state/UT governments to meet with private school principals and take certain continuing education for children affected by Covid, estimated at about 0. 19 million.
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The NCPCR conducted physical visits to six states/UTs based on a pattern survey that added Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Jharkhand and Kerala.
NCPCR interacted with students and their parents/guardians and found that many students did not obtain cash aid from states to continue their studies in personal schools.
It also found that the advantages of flexible and compulsory schooling for pupils belonging to the weak and disadvantaged strata of society up to elegance VIII, provided for in Article 12 of the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2009, are also not respected. .
In its affidavit filed through lawyer Swarupama Chaturvedi, the NCPCR said: “During the interaction of NCPCR groups with youth and their parents/guardians, many young people got sponsorship due to the budget allocation made by the state and many young people who lost either parent (during Covid) were compensated through RTE.
The committee warned that if a child who has lost a parent or member of the family circle who earns him or her and studies in a private school, “the costs of primary education (up to grade VIII) of such young people in the same school would possibly be borne by the competent government under article 12, paragraph 1(c) of the TEN Law.
The Commission sent a questionnaire to the States/UTs and found that Kerala, Nagaland, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal, Sikkim, Tripura, Mizoram and Pondicherry have still applied the provisions of Article 12(1)(c) of the TEN.
In addition, the Committee that for young people reading in personal schools beyond elementary (beyond Class VIII), the applicable UT State/Government expand a policy for the reimbursement of educational expenses of such youth.
States may also sponsor the child’s education under Section Forty-five of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, the affidavit adds.
A panel of judges BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol heard the case on February 28 and agreed to the advice on March 13, the next hearing date.
The commission also created a portal: the “Out-of-School Child Tracking Portal” last year for real-time updating of information across states/UTs on youth who have disrupted school due to the Covid pandemic by staying away for a period of 30 days or more. more. So far, the NCPCR has obtained data on more than 55,000 scholars from 11 states.
Physical verification of pattern statuses by NCPCR further revealed that benefits from central and public schools such as Mission Vatsalya for children affected by Covid and widow’s pension were not successful in affected families/children.
In an August 2021 order, the Supreme Court ordered that young people who lost one or both parents after March 2020 not interrupt their studies.
“State governments want to tell private schools to waive fees for children in poverty during the current school year. In case private institutions are unwilling to make such an exemption, state governments will bear the burden of fees,” the order said.
The court was assisted by attorney Gaurav Agarwal as amicus curiae (friend of the court) who reported that in addition to the NCPCR’s suggestions, the court could simply order all states to ensure the continued education of children affected by Covid in private schools through more monetary assistance, loose school leave, Linkage to any existing government program or NGO involvement.