 bill no  271 of  2016 the right of children to free and compulsory education bill, 2016 by shri rabindra kumar jena, mp a billfurther to amend the right of children to free and compulsory education act, 2009be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement35 of 2009amendment of section 232 in the right of children to free and compulsory education act, 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act), in section 23, after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:—5"(2a) notwithstanding anything in sub-section (1), the appropriate government may create a pool of teachers for primary schools through a direct recruitment processpool of teachers for primary schools(2b) a person shall be eligible for appointment as a teacher under sub-section(2a), if he—(i) is below the age of 32 years;10(ii) possesses senior secondary school certificate with seventy per centmarks or intermediate with seventy per cent marks or its equivalent;(iii) has qualified the central teacher eligibility test (ctet) conductedby the central board of secondary education in accordance with the guidelines framed by the national council for teacher education for the purpose15or (iv) has qualified the teacher eligibility test (tet) conducted by theappropriate government in accordance with the guidelines framed by the national council for teacher education for the purpose:20provided that the total number of teachers recruited under sub-section (2a)shall not exceed twenty per cent of the total number of teachers recruited in any state within a calendar year3 after chapter iv of the principal act, the following chapter shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new chapter iva "chapter iv a teacher quality assessment test2528a (1) the appropriate government shall conduct quality assessment test for all teachers once in every four years(2) the quality assessment test shall consist of the following two components, namely:—monitoring of teacher quality through assessment test(a) a written exam; and (b) evaluation of student performance30(3) the guidelines, syllabus and question paper for the assessment test shall be framed by a competent authority notified by the appropriate government35(4) the result of the quality assessment test of both the components referred to in sub-section (2) shall be declared within four months of the date of conduct of the test(5) the appropriate government shall constitute a committee in every district to review the result of the teacher quality assessment test(6) the committee shall consist of—(a) member of parliament representing the district, who shall be chairperson—ex-officio;40(b) the district magistrate concerned, who shall be a permanent member;and(c) three persons to be nominated by the district magistrate in consultation with chairperson in such manner as may be prescribed (7) the salary and allowances payable to and the other terms and conditions of service of the nominated members of the committee shall be such as may be prescribed5(8) the committee shall have power to review the result of teacher qualityassessment test and suggest measures to the appropriate government for improving teaching ability and other related qualities of teachers"amendment of section 304 in section 30 of the principal act, for sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—10"(1) no child shall be required to pass any board examination till completion ofthird class" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe education sector on the whole and especially primary education is facing a major crisis in the country the overall literacy rate has seen a constant increase over decades and reached around 74% in 2011 however, some studies and credible reports suggest that there is a big crisis building up in the school education sector while the enrolment into schools is almost universal at a high of around 97%, the outcomes seem below satisfactory the annual status education report which reports the actual learning levels of school students has revealed shocking figures over the years only 48% of fifth class students can read text books of second class moreover, only 441% of eighth class students managed to do a division in 2014, as against 46% in 2013 in 2014, only about 25% of children enrolled in fifth class could read simple english sentences this number is virtually unchanged since 2009 the situation is worse in middle schools in 2009, 602% of children studying in eighth class could read simple sentences in english but this figure fell to 468% in 2014 the trend shows stagnation of learning levels and even hints at a declinewhile there may be multiple factors contributing to this crisis, but one major area which needs reform and accountability is teachers teachers have been putting in a lot of efforts in creating the future leaders in our country since time immemorial the governments also have been spending a huge sum of money into teacher's development and salaries it is estimated that about 80% of education expenditure by the government is on teachers in some states, almost half of the government staff comprises teachers however, this pumping of money into teachers' salaries, increased number of staff and training has not resulted in better ground results this may lead us to two questions: one, the quality of teachers and two, their commitment and accountability it is also observed that the absentee percentage of teachers is about 25% in many states, whereas the absentee in any other government department is below 10% generallythe bill attempts to create a framework which can solve both these problems it calls for a teacher quality assessment test once in every four years and an innovative method to recruit young and bright graduates into the teaching industry along with this, this bill also amends the no detention policy of the right to education act and reduces the policy only upto third class this ensures that no student is promoted after his first three years of education without learning what is essential for his age or class on the whole, this bill is a small attempt in the right direction to revive the primary education sector, which is in deep crisishence this billnew delhi;rabindra kumar jenaoctober 20, 2016 financial memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides for creation of a pool of teachers for primary schools from class first to class third through a direct recruitment process by the appropriate government clause 3 provides for teachers quality assessment test for monitoring of teachers' quality it also provides for constitution of a committee to review  assessment test results and further course of action the expenditure relating to states shall be borne out of the consolidated funds of the respective states however, the central government shall bear the expenditure in respect of union territories the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india though, it is difficult to assess the exact expenditure at this stage, yet, it is estimated that a sum of rupees two hundred crore would  be involved as recurring expenditure per annum from the consolidated fund of indiaa sum of rupees five hundred crore would also be involved as a non-recurring expenditure annexure extract from the right of children to free and compulsory education (amendment) act, 2009 (35 of 2009)        23 (1)         qualifications for appointment and terms and conditions of service of teachers(2) where  a state does not have adequate institutions offering courses or training in teacher education, or teachers possessing minimum qualification as laid down under subsection (1) are not available in sufficient numbers, the central government may, if it deems necessary, by notification, relax the minimum qualifications required for appointment as a teacher, for such period, not exceeding five years, as may be specified in that notification:provided that a teacher who, at the commencement of this act, does not possess minimum qualifications as laid down under sub-section (1), shall acquire such minimum qualifications within a period of five years        28 no teacher shall engage himself or herself in private tution or private teaching activityprohibition of private tution by teacher        30 (1) no child shall be required to pass any board examination till completion of elementary educationexamination and compeletion certificate(2) every child completing his elementary education shall be awarded a certificate, in such form and in such manner, as may be prescribed         lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the right of children to free and compulsory education act, 2009————(shri rabindra kumar jena, mp)gmgipmrnd—2892ls(s3)—18112016