Fatmi: Goof up

New Delhi, March 14: Junior human resource minister M.A.A. Fatmi is known for putting his foot in the mouth on policy matters.

The first time the RJD minister from Bihar goofed up was when he said at a news conference that the Centre was planning to introduce sex education in the school curriculum.

The ground situation happens to be quite different. The issue of sex education is still at the stage of debate and the HRD ministry is in no position to introduce it as a subject before all the parties concerned arrive at a consensus.

Fatmi this morning goofed up once more ? this time on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, where chairperson Bhairon Singh Shekhawat expressed concern about the school drop-out rate and sought a response from the HRD ministry.

The minister of state said the government was planning to accept the recommendations of an expert committee to punish parents who do not send their children to schools.

The committee he was referring to is a sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education. Union HRD minister Arjun Singh set up the committee to lay down provisions for an enabling bill, which will implement the free and compulsory education bill passed by the NDA government in 2004.

Fatmi, however, seemed unaware that the proposal to punish defaulting parents was shot down at least a year ago by educationists and non-governmental educational organisations. The HRD ministry, then headed by BJP?s Murli Manohar Joshi, eventually yielded to the combined pressure and assured that parents will not be penalised under any circumstance. The decision came at the end of a persistent campaign by voluntary organisations.

Educationists believe the sub-committee, which is drawing up a fresh draft of the enabling bill, is not going to put in such a controversial and unacceptable provision.

They say parents are unable to send their children to school not out of choice but economic compulsion.

The enrolment rate of children has steadily gone up over the years which shows more and more parents are sending their children to school. What the government has not been able to tackle is the dropout rate, which increases from Class V.

Fatmi clearly was not properly informed while responding to Shekhawat?s question.