Students to do a study on RTE Act execution

Delhi University students will soon come up with a study on the implementation of the Right to Education Act in six districts of Delhi, Mallica Joshi reports.

Delhi University students will soon come up with a study on the implementation of the Right to Education Act in six districts of Delhi.

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Working as volunteers with the Joint Operation for Social Help (JOSH), an NGO that has done extensive work in the field of RTE in the city, close to 50 students have conducted a survey. They interacted with 1,200 people in various parts of the city to assess the implementation of the landmark law.

The students come from various colleges, including St Stephen's, Hindu, Lady Shri Ram College for Women and Ram Lal Anand college. Some students from IIT Delhi and Presidency University, Kolkata, also participated in the survey.

“The first phase was concerned with training and sensitisation of our university volunteers. They were trained in fieldwork methods of data collection by eminent researchers in development economics and sociology. Coming from the best colleges in Delhi and weaving the dreams of a great future career, they all had felt home in this city since forever. But all of a sudden, they saw a disconnect between themselves and a vast, oft-overlooked facet of Delhi," said Saurabh Sharma, member JOSH.

In the second phase, the volunteers conducted intensive fieldwork in six districts of Delhi, mostly in urban poor neighbourhoods and among economically weaker sections. The field activity involved data collection on RTE implementation, awareness and social audits of government schools in the area.

The teams will now work to analyse the data collected and identify the trends emerging out of it. Each team will produce a status report on RTE implementation as well as an academic paper, which will make a significant policy suggestion with respect to RTE.

The project started last October and is expected to be completed by March this year.