The RtE Act increases Government control in elementary education and this could result in administrative malpractices. The Committee felt that there should be adequate checks and balances to reduce the opportunities for misuse of authority, particularly in the context of requirement of all unaided schools to obtain recognition. The Committee has recommended that all applications for recognition should be examined not by Education Department but by committees consisting of retired teachers andGovernment officials, and educationists; and grant of recognition or otherwise should be based on the report of these independent committees.
6 The Committee has also recommended that the existing practice of annual inspections by Education Inspectors should discontinue as it no longer serves any useful purpose. The Committee has recommended that academic committees consisting of educationists should be given responsibility of academic supervision and guidance of elementary schools. The Committee has also recommended thatreputed schools and other education institutions should also be associated in academic supervision.
Primary school inspector duties
Every elementary school should have the benefit of such supervision at least twice a year and the report of such supervision should be forwarded to CRCs and DIETS for providing suitable training and other academic assistance to teachers.
7 The RtE Act puts enormous responsibility on local bodies for successful implementation of free and compulsory elementary education to all children within their jurisdiction. While District and Taluks Panchayats, and Municipal Corporations in Gujarat are well equipped for this, most of the municipalities are not. The Committee was informed that out of 165 Municipalities and Municipal Corporations only
19 are providing elementary education and such municipalities, are called ‘authorized municipalities’. The remaining 146 have resolved that they are not in a position to take this responsibility and the State Government has therefore entrusted this responsibility to the concerned District Panchayat. The Committee was informed that the main reason for the refusal of unauthorized municipalities to manage elementary education was that State Government provided only 95% of expenditure and the remaining5% was to be borne by the local body. Since these municipalities did not have financial resources, they opted not to provide this service.
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