The root cause of a poor outcome in education in terms of poor literacy, dropout rates, learning retention and quality of education in primary schools after the introduction of the Right to Education Act is the hurry with which it was introduced (“ >The illusion of equity in the classroom ”, Feb.4). Schools functioned in dilapidated buildings and there was a paucity of teachers. The RTE Act added more students without a matching infrastructure. Moreover, teaching and other staff were not sensitised on how to handle SC and ST students with empathy.
Y.G. Chouksey,
Pune
A nation like India, with abundant human resources, will immensely benefit from greater efforts to improve education and health for all. Glaring inequity in these two factors as it exists in India will hamper the process of human resource development and human capital formation which are vital for a higher growth rate. If the RTE Act has not succeeded in bringing about an equality of opportunity and dignified treatment for marginalised sections in private schools, one has also to blame the mindset of private managements and the parents of privileged children. Teachers were neither mentally prepared to meet the challenges arising out of the new situation nor were they trained to cope with the psychological situation.
Rameeza A. Rasheed,
Chennai
