New Delhi: The Right to Education (RTE) Act has ensured that the education budget in most states has doubled, and 11 million more children are now enrolled in schools, Louis-George Arsenault, Unicef India representative, said yesterday.
Arsenault said 99 percent of India’s rural population now had a primary school within a one-kilometre radius.
The Unicef India representative, however, also noted the challenges that still lay ahead: despite the landmark law, eight million children remain out of school.
Getting children who have fallen out of the school system within it, and into age-appropriate classes remains a significant challenge, he said.
High enrolment rates do not mean much if drop-out rates remain high, the Unicef representative pointed out, speaking of the 80 million children who drop out of school before completing elementary education.
Arsenault was speaking at a discussion to take stock of three years of the RTE Act.
IANS
