Education for all

In a special event by People’s Campaign for Common School System on ‘Right to education and ‘Common School System’ at the India Social Forum, activists threw spotlight on inadequate Education Bill and reiterated their demand for a ‘Common School System’.

More than 50 per cent of Indian children drop out of school before completing eight years. Most are from depressed rural areas and urban slums, a disproportionate number are girls. 

This group deserves special attention, not only in policy and planning but at implementation stage. Alternative strategies like open schooling and non-formal education are being tried and tested. Child rights and education activists are outraged that the promised 6% GDP allocation towards education remains a dream with just 3% committed and that the Right to Education Bill still exists in draft form only and fails to address key concerns over equality.

At the seminars, education campaigners and poor communities from across India came together at the India Social Forum to reinvigorate demands for government to make provision for a ‘common school system’. They hope this new ‘breakthrough system’ will extend the reach of elementary education to all children, irrespective of economic status or social background. .

Testimonies from children, parents and teachers illustrated the education problems and shared local success stories from around the country including 'bridge schools', which have enabled children from diverse backgrounds to enter or remain in mainstream school, including children of migratory brick kiln workers who miss months of formal school each year.