Right to education and inclusion in private unaided schools: an exploratory study in Bengaluru and Delhi

Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 provides for inclusion of children from disadvantaged and weaker sections in private unaided schools. Although meant to foster inclusion and achieve social justice objectives, this legal provision has been highly contested and its implications for the expanding private sector in school education are not fully understood. This article is based on an exploratory study, conducted in Bengaluru and Delhi, which examines the status of implementation of this provision with a view to delineate key issues at the level of state administration, schools and parents. Using qualitative data collected from the two sites, the study compares and comments on the extent to which the provision has been able to deliver on its purported goal of inclusion. It concludes by identifying gaps and challenges that require an urgent policy response

The Politics of Social Inclusion: Bridging Knowledge and Policies Towards Social Change

This volume looks at concepts and processes of social exclusion and social inclusion. It traces a number of discourses, all of them routed in a relational power analysis, examining them in the context of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 with its commitment to "leave no one behind." The book combines analysis that is fundamentally critical of the rhetoric of social inclusion in academic and UN discourse with narratives of social exclusion processes and social inclusion contestation, based on ethnographic field research findings in La Paz, Kingston, Port-au-Prince, Kampala, Beijing, Chongqing, Mumbai, Delhi, and villages in Northern India. As a result, it contributes to revealing the politics of social inclusion, offering policy proposals towards overcoming exclusions.Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP) at the University of Bergen.publishedVersio

Inclusion of Marginalized Children in Private Unaided Schools:The RTE Act, 2009

This study by Oxfam India looks at the implications of the provisions laid out by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) which makes it a legal requirement for private, unaided schools to provide free and compulsory education to children from disadvantaged groups. The paper used data from the academic year 2012-2013 to highlight the issues which can occur with Private Schools who are never reimbursed by the government for these students. Studies were carried out in schools in Bangalore and Delhi (two cities at the front of implementing the RTE) - schools reported that this issue 'has opened doors for greater governmental interference.' This paper looks at how different schools in these cities were made aware of the Section 12 provision and its rules, and outlines how the addition of marginalised children to a school can impact on the learning resources and opportunities of paying students