2019EducationManifesto

WE VOTE FOR EQUITABLE QUALITY EDUCATION IN THE COMING PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

We the members of People’s Alliance for Fundamental Right to Education –PAFRE, as part our national campaign lead by RTE Forum, CACL and Alliance for ECD to make care, protection, development and equitable quality education to all children from birth to 18 years a prime political agenda in 2019 parliamentary elections. We demand the following as non-negotiable commitments to be included in your manifesto. We also demand a political commitment to fulfil the same post-elections.

OUR DEMANDS

1. Recognize education as a process of socialisation and a tool for social transformation to deepen the democracy and to uphold the core values enshrined in the Constitution, United Nation Convention on the rights of the Child and UN Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs).
2. Commit to fulfill the promise of 6% of GDP to be invested in education as recommended by the Education Commission, and invest up to 10% of GDP in education, to address the past backlog of short funding.
3. Extend the purview of the RTE Act from birth to 18 years, in line with the internationally recognized definition of childhood, by including ECCE, Preschool and higher secondary education as legal entitlements
4. Take all measures to guarantee care, protection, development and equitable quality education in their respective mother tongue/regional language to all children from birth to 18 years in accordance with the provisions of Indian Constitution, United Nation Convention on the rights of the Child and UN Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs).
5. Politically commit to strengthen public education and take measures to stop mass closure/merger of state funded government schools
6. Take steps to prepare a detailed road map for the holistic implementation of the RTE Act in letter and spirit without any dilution, including no detention and no expulsion provision under the Right to Education Act
7. We commit ourselves to teach English as a language from early years of schooling to the competency level to respect the people’s aspirations
8. Commit to strengthen School Development and Monitoring Committees (SMC) as primary vehicles of implementing the RTE Act at school level and allocate reasonable resources to strengthen them.
9. Take measures to end all forms of exploitation and abuse on children and to put an end to child labour practice among children under the age of 18 to ensure equitable quality education in safe and secured school environment
10. Commit to curb privatization and commercialization of education and promise to enact a stringent regulatory framework to enforce accountability of private schools. It includes regulation of fees, minimum norms and standards for quality and institutional structure for parent participation. Private institutions should fulfil their social obligation to reserve 25 per cent seats for the marginalized children as their commitment without any reimbursement
11. Take steps to address inequality and discrimination in education system by moving away from multi-layered education system and build a national system of education based on the Common School System through neighbourhood school as envisaged in 1968, 1986 and 1992(revised ) policies

Organizations and institutions supporting the Education Manifesto, which are requesting all political parties to include these clauses in their 2019 election manifesto.

Support the manifesto by entering your name / institution name in this form - https://tinyurl.com/2019EducationManifesto

See https://tinyurl.com/2019EducationManifestoEndorsed for the individuals and organizations endorsing the manifesto