Dear Editor,
This refers to your article “Importance of Education” by Arun Bangotra (ST- Nov 12). The Supreme Court has held that the right to education is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and that the state is obliged to provide education to children at the primary level. Good education is not only desirable in itself but is also essential for the empowerment of our people. Education should be viewed as a basic human right leading to empowerment and awareness. The politicization of education poses a serious threat to society. It is necessary for the authorities to investigate whether reservation has genuinely helped the backward sections of society. The government should address this problem on an urgent basis and take a holistic approach to it. Granting everyone the right to education is not enough in itself. It is the duty of the State to ensure proper implementation of this law in every section of the society. The 25 per cent reservation for poor kids is a terrible insult to the majority of India’s children. It is like the ‘two-tumbler’ system that prevails in many villages. The government should take effective steps to provide sound education to students from the backward classes rather than just creating quotas. What is more important is to ensure that proper facilities are provided in schools and the best teachers recruited to teach children in their formative years. Right to education will remain a dream unless sincere efforts are made to create the necessary
infrastructure.
Vinod C. Dixit
Ahmedabad
