There has been a growing  dissent amongst parents regarding various issues pertaining to schools and educational Institutes , this is partially because of over generalization of various acts mentioned in the C.B.S.E Bye laws, Media has fueled the debate and masses are flooding on social media to convey their frustrations , in the article we will cover some of the controversial interpretations of law.

Is Education a Philanthropic activity ?

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act’ or ‘Right to Education Act also known as RTE’, is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4 August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution.^[1] India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010.^[2][3][4]The title of the RTE Act incorporates the words ‘free and compulsory’. ‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school which is not supported by the appropriate Government, shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education. ‘Compulsory education’ casts an obligation on the appropriate Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by all children in the 6-14 age group. With this, India has moved forward to a rights based framework that casts a legal obligation on the Central and State Governments to implement this fundamental child right as enshrined in the Article 21A of the Constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the RTE Act.17.

How much Fee ?

A. CHARGING OF EXBORBITANT FEE/CAPITATION FEE/DONATIONS ETC.
Rule 11.1, 2 &3:-
(i) Fees charges should be commensurate with the facilities provided by the
institution. Fees should normally be charged under the heads prescribed by the
Department of Education of the Stete/U.T. for schools of different categories.
No capitation fee or voluntary donations for gaining admission in the school or
for any other purpose should be charged / collected in the name of the school
and the school should not subject the child or his or her parents or guardians to
any screening procedure. In case of such malpractices, the Board may take
drastic action leading to disaffiliation of the school.
Further, any school or person violates the above provisions is liable for the
following:-
(i) Receives capitation fee, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten
times the capitation fee charged;
(ii) Subjects a child to screening procedure, shall be punishable with fine which
may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees for the first contravention and fifty
thousand rupees for each subsequent contraventions.

What activity comes under commercial Activity?

Can Skill Development be done at Schools ?

Yes, Information , communication and Technology are focus areas for government and schools must promote such activities at school and as mentioned above these skills must be supported .The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools have been subsumed in the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). Now ICT in Schools is a component of the RMSA. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Schools was launched in December, 2004 and revised in 2010 to provide opportunities to secondary stage students to mainly build their capacity on ICT skills and make them learn through computer aided learning process. The Scheme is a major catalyst to bridge the digital divide amongst students of various socio economic and other geographical barriers. The Scheme provides support to States/UTs to establish computer labs on sustainable basis.

Components

The scheme has essentially four components:-

• The first one is the partnership with State Government and Union Territories Administrations for providing computer aided education to Secondary and Higher Secondary Government and Government aided schools.
• The second is the establishment of smart schools, which shall be technology demonstrators.
• The third component is teacher related interventions, such as provision for engagement of an exclusive teacher, capacity enhancement of all teachers in ICT and a scheme for national ICT award as a means of motivation.
• Fourth one relates to the development of a e-content, mainly through Central Institute of Education Technologies (CIET), six State Institutes of Education Technologies (SIETs) and 5 Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs), as also through outsourcing.

What are Life Skills and whether your kid is getting those skills?

Key Life Skills Life skills include psychosocial competencies and interpersonal skills that help people make informed decisions, solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, empathize with others, and cope with managing their lives in a healthy and productive manner. Essentially, there are two kinds of skills – those related to thinking termed as “thinking skills”; and skills related to dealing with others termed as “social skills”. While thinking skills relate to reflection at a personal level, social skills include interpersonal skills and do not necessarily depend on logical thinking. It is the combination of these two types of skills that are needed for achieving assertive behaviour and negotiating effectively. “Emotional” can be perceived as a skill not only in making rational decisions but also in being able to make others agree to one’s point of view. To do that, coming to terms first with oneself is important. Thus, selfmanagement is an important skill including managing/coping with feelings, emotions, stress and resisting peer and family pressure. Young people as advocates need both thinking and social skills for consensus building and advocacy on issues of concern.

The Ten core Life Skills as laid down by WHO are: 1. Self-awareness 2. Empathy 3. Critical thinking 4. Creative thinking 5. Decision making 6. Problem Solving 7. Effective communication 8. Interpersonal relationship 9. Coping with stress 10. Coping with emotion

 Self-awareness includes recognition of ‘self’, our character, our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize when we are stressed or feel under pressure. It is often a prerequisite to effective communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy with others.

 Empathy – To have a successful relationship with our loved ones and society at large, we need to understand and care about other peoples’ needs, desires and feelings. Empathy is the ability to imagine what life is like for another person. Without empathy, our communication with others will amount to one-way traffic. Worst, we will be acting and behaving according to our self-interest and are bound to run into problems. No man is an island, no woman either! We grow up in relationships with many people – parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts, classmates, friends and neighbours. When we understand ourselves as well as others, we are better prepared to communicate our needs and desires. We will be more equipped to say what we want people to know, present our thoughts and ideas and tackle delicate issues without offending other people. At the same time, we will be able to elicit support from others, and win their understanding. Empathy can help us to accept others, who may be very different from ourselves. This can improve social interactions, especially, in situations of ethnic or cultural diversity. 5 Empathy can also help to encourage nurturing behaviour towards people in need of care and assistance, or tolerance, as is the case with AIDS sufferers, or people with mental disorders, who may be stigmatized and ostracized by the very people they depend upon for support.

 Critical thinking is an ability to analyze information and experiences in an objective manner. Critical thinking can contribute to health by helping us to recognize and assess the factors that influence attitudes and behaviour, such as values, peer pressure and the media.

 Creative thinking is a novel way of seeing or doing things that is characteristic of four components – fluency (generating new ideas), flexibility (shifting perspective easily), originality (conceiving of something new), and elaboration (building on other ideas).

 Decision making helps us to deal constructively with decisions about our lives. This can have consequences for health. It can teach people how to actively make decisions about their actions in relation to healthy assessment of different options and, what effects these different decisions are likely to have.

 Problem solving helps us to deal constructively with problems in our lives. Significant problems that are left unresolved can cause mental stress and give rise to accompanying physical strain.

 Interpersonal relationship skills help us to relate in positive ways with the people we interact with. This may mean being able to make and keep friendly relationships, which can be of great importance to our mental and social well-being. It may mean keeping, good relations with family members, which are an important source of social support. It may also mean being able to end relationships constructively.

 Effective communication means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. This means being able to express opinions and desires, and also needs and fears. And it may mean being able to ask for advice and help in a time of need.

 Coping with stress means recognizing the sources of stress in our lives, recognizing how this affects us, and acting in ways that help us control our levels of stress, by changing our environment or lifestyle and learning how to relax.

 Coping with emotions means involving recognizing emotions within us and others, being aware of how emotions influence behaviour and being able to respond to emotions appropriately. Intense emotions like anger or sadness can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately.

Reality Check : Most of the schools and parents are neither aware of these nor bothered about the impact of absence of these skills on their kids. Its very important we realize , that in future anyone who is lacking these skills will have many problems in seeking job and living happily.