)
Every election affects the welfare of children. The coming General Election is no exception. However, often, education is not on the agenda of any aspiring representative and the potential to impact children’s lives in a positive manner is wasted away. It’s time to set this right. Here are some questions that you must ask anyone aspiring to represent you in Lok Sabha.
· Education – good / quality education – is everyone’s right. Especially after the Right to Education (RTE) Act, education in every government school should be such that everyone finds it good. But even very poor parents are removing their children from government schools and making sacrifices to send their children to private schools.
Question 1: What will you do to ensure appropriate and quality education in government schools?
· Teachers’ salaries have gone up. They now get training from time to time to enable good education for children. There is provision for mid-day-meals, school uniforms, play equipment, learning material – all free. But teachers remain an unmotivated lot. They feel neglected. They feel as if they are not being respected.
Question 2: What will you do so that teachers take interest in their work and become committed to the good education of children in their classes?
· According to RTE the responsibility of running/managing the schools will now be with community and panchayats. But the community and the panchayats say: how can we give any advice to the school? They do not find themselves capable of advising / supporting schools. They feel this is not even their work.
Question 3: What will you do to enable the active involvement of community and panchayats in improving education in our schools?
· Community and parents both expect that education will ensure children’s development as well as employment. But a substantial number of parents, particularly from the economically disadvantaged sections, say: All this education is going to lead only to unemployment, so it is better that the child be engaged in some wage-earning work right away.
Question 4: What will you do so that every member of the community is aware and committed towards the education of his / her children?
· If we look at the money spent on education, most of it is used for administrators’ and teachers’ salaries, infrastructure and maintenance. Crores of rupees are spent every year on this. Even then our schools and education offices look dirty and disorganized compared to private institutions. And the people responsible for improving education for children cannot even be heard talking about it.
Question 5: What will you do so that government schools and education offices look attractive, so that people in the system not only think of children’s improvement but also do what is needed?
Give your vote only if you get answers for these questions! It does not matter which school your child goes to. Your child’s future is linked to how well other children get educated. It does not matter if you agree with others’ or the aspiring representatives’ views on responses to these questions. But we all need to begin thinking on these issues. So go ahead, ask questions and get others to ask as well.
May you be represented by a deserving person in the 16th Lok Sabha!
