Former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey speaks at the seminar in Patna on Monday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Aug. 29: Unless education becomes a political agenda, it would not be possible to bring about qualitative changes in the system said members of non-government organisations (NGOs) participating at the two-day-long state-level convention to discuss the status of implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act in Bihar.

Activists attending the opening day of the convention at AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies today stressed the need for awareness about the act for ensuring quality education.

The two-day convention has been jointly organised by NGO Save the Children and RTE Forum, a coalition of NGOs working for Right to Education for the past one year.

Social activist Sanjeev Rai said: “If the government decides to bring about qualitative change in the education system out of self-interest or to maintain their position of power, not a single child would be out of school. The government should be made or brought down on the basis of their contribution to education. If education becomes a political agenda, then every party or government will try to secure their position by doing development work in this field.”

He also said there is a need for more awareness on RTE.

“We hardly come across any advertisement for RTE on the roads although there are ample government or private advertisements. This is not the condition only in Bihar but it is the same outside too. I think the government should give this a thought,” said Rai.

Muchkund Dubey, former Indian foreign secretary and chief guest, said: “Mere formulation of provisions under the RTE Act will not help bring back dropouts to school and ensure quality education. The problem is in the mechanism through which the provisions are being executed. A large section of the society is still not aware of the RTE provisions or what the act means.

“There have been some positive changes, including making the legislation of the Right to Education and removing capitation fee from schools, but still a lot needs to be done. The state government has to play a more proactive role than the central government because the act is ultimately implemented at the state-level. There is also a need for mapping schools that would help determine the number of schools in the state and the number of schools that should be built.”