An ‘all-clear’ education Bill set to get Cabinet nod

All outstanding issues that have held back the Bill so far have now been addressed by a Group of Ministers (GoM) when it met last week and the legislation will now come with a decentralised district level grievance redressal system, a broad spectrum National Advisory Council of experts to help implement the legislation's provisions and a clearly spelt out role of the Finance Commission to ensure a controversy-free state and Centre fund-sharing formula. The Bill will also apply to all private schools stipulating 25 per cent reservations for needy children.

When the Bill was first taken to the Cabinet on August 8 this year, not only were questions raised about the funding formulae to bear the cost of the Bill that seeks to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 but also about the grievance redressal mode. While the legislation earlier called for all grievances to be addressed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the Cabinet had raised questions on the issue saying this would centralise grievance redressal. The Law Ministry had also earlier raised doubts about the Bill's provisions inviting litigation. The GoM has accordingly decided that grievance redressal would be decentralised and authorities will be instituted at regional level.