KENDRAPARA: The Right to Education Act’s implementation has remained grossly under-funded and the quality of education leaves much to be desired, said secretary of World Federation of Teachers’ Union B Vijay Kumar while addressing the two-day conference of 34th All Odisha Teachers’ Union at Kendrapara College on Sunday. He urged the Government to take initiative in this regard.

Kumar said while Sri Lanka was ranked 73rd in the United Nations Human Development Index for 2014, India was placed at 135. The literacy rate of Sri Lanka is 92 per cent of the population which is highest in South Asia compared to 74.04 per cent of India as per Census 2011 report.  The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education and income indices used to rank countries into four tiers of human development in which Sri Lanka is well ahead of India.

The number of children who do not get education especially in the rural areas is still high despite the law made by Government that every child under the age of 14 years should get free education, said Kumar. At present, the female literacy rate is 65.46 per cent compared to over 80 per cent among men, he added.

Kumar criticised the Government for allowing mushrooming of sub-standard engineering and other technical colleges in the country including Odisha which lack minimum infrastructure facilities. He also stated that no Indian university figures among the top 200 universities of the world which is a matter of concern.

Secretary of All Odisha Teachers’ Union Duryodhan Parida, Dean of School of Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources Sarat Kumar Palit also spoke at the conference which was attended by around 600 teachers from all the districts.

Source : New Indian Express...