-The Economic Times
Concerned about the lack of awareness about the legal entitlement to basic education for children up to the age of 14, the human resource development ministry has planned out a year-long community awareness and mobilisation programme. The Shiksha ka Haq Abhiyan (Right to Education campaign) will be flagged of on November 11, which is observed as Education Day, from Mewat district in Rajasthan, which has among the lowest education performance parameters in country.
Though no less revolutionary than the rural employment guarantee scheme, there is little or no attempt to focus on the Right to Education. The ministry hopes that a sustained campaign will change that and create an interest at the community level to ensure that the Right to Education delivers.
The campaign will be conducted at the school level. A message from Prime Minister and HRD minister will mark the year-long activities across the 13 lakh elementary schools in the country. It has been more than a year that the Right to Education has been in force, however, there is little awareness of the law and its provisions. The law gives governments a three-year window to ensure that infrastructure and other such provisions meet the requirements of the law.