Hurdles he faced motivate him to help poor students

Kumar's school education was a story of discrimination at every step. He had to over come many challenges to complete schooling. Today, nearly two decades later, Kumar, a driver by profession, has vowed to get enrolled into schools as many poor students as possible. Making use of the reservation provisions for the economically weaker sections under the Right to Education Act, he got many students admitted into schools last year. He has already collected about 25 applications from various families in his neighbourhood to help their wards get admissions for the next year. Kumar was one of the parents and a member of the RTE Task Force who was felicitated for his efforts in ensuring effective implementation of RTE here on Sunday. The programme was organised to mark the one-year existence of the RTE Task Force. The Task Force is a joint initiative of several City NGOs such as Child Rights Trust, SICHREM, APSA and Sparsha Trust to bring together beneficiaries of the Act. During the past year, workshops and training were conducted across the State to spread awareness about the Act. The Task Force brought together hundreds of parents who exchanged information and took the help of the activists to redress grievances on admissions. Speaking about how he began working towards the cause, Kumar said, "I could not study much owing to many hurdles that cropped up. But, I developed the habit of reading newspapers regularly. When I came to know that the government was implementing the provision of RTE Act, I began approaching officials to get more information about it. I started maintaining newspaper cuttings on the issue. Last year, I helped many students, including children of vegetable vendors, drivers and daily wage labourers, get admissions. I already have a few applications with me for the coming academic year as well.” He was not the only parent. Many parents who had struggled to get admissions to their own children as well as to others from their neighbourhood came together on Sunday to share their experiences. As per the Task Force statistics, they have received more than 5,000 calls between February and June this year. The members have received 300 more complaints from parents on implementation of RTE. "The past year has been a fight for effective implementation of the 25 per cent reservation under the Act. This time, we will focus on infrastructure in government schools,” said Nagasimha G Rao of Child Rights Trust.   DHNS