Jharkhand today asked the Centre to include children of 5-18 age group under the Right to Education, a move Chief Minister Raghubar Das said will help curb child marriages.
Das, who took part in the 11th Inter-State Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, also suggested that information related to skill development may be included in Class VIII curriculum so that children can gain expertise in their area of interest by the time they complete Class XII.
He also pressed the Centre to connect the madarsas in the state with modern education system.
"Under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, children between the age group of 5-18 years can be included. Its direct benefit will be that children will compulsorily complete their education till intermediate (Class XII).
"It will also help in skill development of children and put an end to child marriages," Das suggested.
At present, children between 6 and 14 years of age are entitled to get free and compulsory education as per the central Right to Education Act.
On the security scenario in Jharkhand, the chief minister said in 2015 Naxal incidents in the state reduced by 14.89 per cent in comparison to 2014, and this year till June, there has been a reduction of 36.64 per cent.
Das also suggested that provisions for education till Class XII should be made in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas.
"Information related to skill development should be included in the curriculum of Class VIII so that till the time the child completes Class XII, the child can gain expertise in his area of interest. As a result, the youth can be employed," he said.
Citing the low college-population ration of 8:100,000 in Jharkhand, which is much lesser than the national average of 26:100,000, the chief minister stressed the need for opening new Universities in the state and sought the Centre's assistance in setting up of new institutions.
Observing the "challenge" in connecting education with employment, Das said emphasised on the need to connect education institutions with industrial units.
Speaking about the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which is being vigorously pushed by the Centre, Das said the scheme is not progressing as per expectations and blamed the lack of banking facilities in the state.
Giving an example, he said only 11 bank branches have been opened against the target of 137 till June 30.
He said his government also agrees with every provision of Punchhi Commission report on the Centre-State relations in the directive of co-operative federalism.
