Dehradun, July 19
Every child’s right to equal and quality education stands threatened by the policies unleashed by the government through the Bill on education.

It will invariably lead to commercialisation of education leaving little room for the intellectual and social development of a child.

Perturbed over the way the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008, has been shaped, social workers and academicians are now imploring the government to bring in amendments to the Bill.

At a workshop organised by Mahila Samakhya to deliberate on the Education Bill, top academicians of the country and social workers said that the Bill is in consonance with the government’s preplanned agenda that now sees very less role for itself and is keen on the entry of foreign universities and private players.

The participants proposed amendments to the Bill that called for devising a common school system through people’s campaign.

“The right to education is meaningful only when provided along with other Fundamental Rights especially those enshrined in Articles 14, 15 and 16 relating to equality and social justice.

“In this sense, the Right to Education agenda cannot be de-linked from the agenda of common school system founded on the principle of neighbourhood schools,” said Anil Sadgopal, former Dean (Education), Delhi University, and member, Central Advisory Board of Education.

By its deliberate silence on public-private partnership policy of the XIth Five-Year Plan, the Bill seeks to legitimise the use of public funds and other resources.

“The government is keen to get in private players and it is not keen to have a central role for itself. To strengthen private enterprise, even government coffers will be opened for opening of private schools,” said Sadgopal.

The participants also did not take kindly to the voucher system being pushed by the Planning Commission for the XIth Five-Year plan as they looked at it as a strategy to shift public funds from government schools to private schools through the back door.

“The day is not far when the government may start floating tenders for the upkeep of government schools. It may demolish the vast government school system and promote privatisation of school education.

“Thereby, it will abdicate its Constitutional obligation towards providing education of equitable quality to all children,” said Radha Behan, famed Gandhian and member of the Central Advisory Board that deliberated on the Bill.

She said that the Bill makes a mockery of the issue of mother tongue as the medium of education. “It will promote elitist schooling and is discriminatory to village children,” she added.

Charging the government for perceiving education as merely a service, she said that it should not be influenced by market forces and all commercial interests should be kept at bay.

She suggested that the management of schools needs to be democratised so that participation of students, parents and teachers becomes possible. This would be in keeping with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional obligation of the state to provide adequate public resources to ensure free educational of equitable quality for all children.

It was pointed out that the Bill gives no guarantee for free pre-primary education within the formal school and instead equates ‘anganwadis’ with pre-primary education.

Also, the Bill’s pupil-teacher’s ratio seems to be worse than the norms either already achieved or expected to be achieved.

“The Bill is trying to reduce the role of teachers. If at all they are there, they need to be experts at multi-tasking - taking several classes at one go,” said Tripen Singh, volunteer with Chetna Andolan, Mahila Samakhya.

There are schools in Uttarakhand without bare minimum infrastructure and these schools do not even have bells to announce the commencement and termination of classes.

During a survey carried out by members of Chetna Andolan in primary schools in Tehri, teachers were missing.

“It is common practice to engage teachers in non-teaching duties. They are engaged in the implementation of several state-level programmes like mid-day meal and evaluation programmes,” said Tripen Singh.

Instead of addressing these problems, the Bill is keen on moving the teacher away from the schools so much so that the teacher’s association with his pupils become a mere formality.

He said that 16 primary schools in the state have no teachers and in some, there is only one teacher per 80 students. This can never guarantee quality education and the teacher’s interaction with pupils.

More than anything, the members were keen to see that education continues to remain in the hands of the government.

“The government had made a commitment to provide free education within 10 years after the drafting of the Constitution but it failed to do so.

“Now once again, it is messing with education and seeking complete obliteration of its role to allow private players to achieve their commercial ends.

“No wonder, the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore of creating thinking young minds through education stands defeated,” said Anil Sadgopal.

Mussoorie, July 19
One common delight that grows wild in the lap of nature is the barberry, locally known as “kingod”.

Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is a bushy shrub with a set of three thorns jutting out of the stem like a trident. The leaves are hard and have six to seven tips, each bearing tiny thorns.

The bush adorns a bunch of small yellow flowers that attract honeybees and butterflies from April till June.

The flowers turn into green bitter berries, which mature into sweet and sour purple delicacies during the peak of the monsoon in July and August.

The berries are fleshy and juicy with four to six small seeds. The leaves, which are sour in taste, are also edible. The inside of the stem and the root is bright yellow in color.

The berries, the leaves and the root of the “kingod” are of high medicinal value and have been used for centuries in the mountains to cure various ailments.

While the berries and the leaves are antibacterial, the roots are boiled in water to attain a yellow syrup that is effective in combating peptic ulcers, liver disorders like jaundice and for dissolving stones from the gall bladder and kidneys.

The same syrup, when applied with soaked cloth, provides relief from backaches and joint pains.

Being an antibacterial, the syrup is also used for curing various types of skin inflammations.

The “kingod” shrub grows in abundance in the mountains, evenly under the direct sun as well as moist shady land. The dried kingod bushes, being thorny, are used for fencing the kitchen garden.

The children enjoy bonfires lit of dried “kingod” shrubs as it produces “cracking” sound and huge flames. The barberry can be grown from the seed and the cuttings.

However, the barberry is not growing well since the past few years.

Thanks to the change in global climate, which has caused unprecedented hail over the North Indian hills.

Moreover, it has not snowed enough for the ground to retain moisture.

Sadly, if this ecological imbalance persists, the future of this unique berry looks quite grim.

Roorkee, July 19
The sugarcane belt of the state is set for lesser produce this year as farmers have opted for other cash crops. Reason: Delayed payments to the cane-growers by the sugar mills and unsupportive policies of the state government.

The survey report of the District Sugarcane Development Office reveals that this year land under cultivation of sugarcane has gone down by as much as 2.27 per cent in Haridwar district as compared with last year.

While area under sugarcane was 53, 580 hectares last year, this year it has dropped to 52, 365 hectares.

However, farmers claim that the report is not genuine.

“In fact, the land under cultivation of cane crop is much lesser than that shown in the report,” claimed RK Aggarwal, general secretary of Uttarakhand Kisan Morcha, while maintaining that the purpose behind exaggeration was to obtain grants.

“The actual figure of the land on which the cane has been grown this year is around 35,000 hectare,” said Aggarwal.

He added that the main reason behind the decline was that farmers were facing difficulities in obtaining payments from sugar mill owners.

“Last year, we had to stage several protests to get our dues. Even government agencies meant to help farmers, support sugar mill owners for their vested interests.

In such a situation, it becomes very difficult for us to make both ends meet,” alleged Aggarwal.

He said local farmers have now shifted their focus towards cash crops and cultivation of vegetables instead of sugarcane.

“The need is to make farmer-friendly policies and ensure timely payments, if the government wants to save sugarcane cultivation in the region,” he said.

Notably, in Haridwar district alone, farmers in as many as 544 villages have been involved in producing sugarcane and the district, which houses three big sugar mills, has been divided into three command zones. Records reveal that in each zone sowing has come down in this season.

“Sowing of seasonal crops and vegetables is now more beneficial and hassle-free,” said Ram Baghpat, a farmer from Jhabrera village.