Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Santa Sihna on Sunday called upon the Orissa Government, civil society and all the stakeholders including children to play a key role in aiding the commission so as to bring changes in lives of each and every child through Right to Education (RTE).
Attending a State level convention jointly organised by NCPCR and Orissa Alliance on Convention on rights of the children (OACRC) here, Santa, termed RTE as a historic act and expressed hope that it would certainly bring changes in the lives of each and every child in the Country. "The commission which has been entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the act feels it is the States' responsibility to ensure that every child comes to school .The family is only to play a supportive role and can't be held responsible,"she added.
National coordinator, NCPCR Kiran Bhatty informed the roles & responsibilities of the commission.
Member National Advisory Council Harsh Mander stressed on the need for equity in education and wished the act to address the needs of all sections of the society.
Children from different parts of the State presented their concerns before the commission. They sought help from the commission for appointment of adequate number of friendly teachers, timely supply of books, proper infrastructure and quality mid-day meals.
Noted educationist Abani Baral highlighted the huge gap in number between elementary and high schools causing drop outs in elementary level. He said While there are 50, 063 primary schools, the number of Upper Primary schools & high schools are 19, 067 and 7, 800 respectively. This pushes out 25lakhs children out of ambit of elementary schools in Odisha, he rued
Commissioner for Disabled Kasturi Mahapatra stressed for inclusive education and appointment of specialized teachers in schools for the children with disabilities.
Director of SCERT Sevak Tripathy, Convener of OACRC Ranjan Mohanty, Programme Manager, UNICEF Job Zachariah, State Convenor of CACL Binayak Swain ,and Narendra Mishra of SOVA spoke on the occasion.
A report on incidence of child migration in western Orissa published by Aide at Action was released.