Over 100 educationists write to Centre on education budget cuts

NEW DELHI: More than 100 academics and activists, representing the Right to Education Forum, wrote to the finance minister expressing their disappointment with the outlay for education in the budget 2021. The activists called the budget a "gross injustice" towards the children of the country.

Members of the Right to Education Forum include former bureaucrats, academics, activists and civil society members. The forum also said that the letter will be forwarded to the Members of Legislative Assembly(MLAs) and Members of Parliament.

Activists, in the letter, said : “Given the pitiable condition of school education in the country and the shocks administered to it by the COVID-19 pandemic, we were expecting a hefty rise in the provision in the budget for school education.”

“This was essential for accomplishing the remaining tasks of implementing the RTE Act, for compensating for the loss suffered in 2020 and for bringing each of the children of India back to school in a safe and child-friendly environment.”

Activists said that there were several pending urgent tasks that required the immediate attention of the government such as bringing back out of school children, filling teacher vacancies, and putting in place the infrastructure according to the RIght to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

The activists also called for the government to provide a financial roadmap for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

They also asked the centre to compensate states who have been hit by the pandemic as much of the financing of education, especially school education, is done by the states.

“The generally fragile and precarious financial position of the States and the Local Governments have been aggravated by the Pandemic. Unlike the Centre, they cannot resort to deficit financing; nor can they fall back upon educational cess as a measure of raising additional revenues,” the activists said in the letter.

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