RTE may replace old education acts in state

To avoid confusion and duplicity in the implementation of Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the Maharashtra education department has proposed to scrap the existing laws related to primary education like the Primary Education Act in the state and completely replace it with the RTE.

To avoid confusion and duplicity in the implementation of Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the Maharashtra education department has proposed to scrap the existing laws related to primary education like the Primary Education Act in the state and completely replace it with the RTE.

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The proposal that is likely to be tabled at the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday is a procedure adopted to implement the act in totality. The state has already missed the Supreme Court three-year deadline on March 31, 2013, to implement the entire act.

“The RTE act is a superior act and it overrules all other acts in the state. This is a proposed move to scrap all such acts and bring them under one umbrella,” a senior government official said. The official added that the RTE has changed the way students are given admissions, examinations are conducted, fees are drawn, teacher-student ratio is fixed, and syllabus is drawn. “It is a positive step by the government to embrace the RTE act in totality,” he added.