Call to foster public education system

New Delhi: Thirteen-year-old Anchal, a differently-abled girl, stays in her classroom when her classmates go outside to get their mid-day meals. 

Anchal faces problems while going to the library which is on the third floor of her school building.

At an event jointly organised by the Right to Education Forum (RTE Forum) -- Campaign Against Child Labour and Alliance for the Right to Early Childhood Development -- many girls like Anchal shared the problems they face in accessing quality education. 

Ambarish Rai, national convener of RTE Forum, said, “Children from 6 to 14 years age in India have a right to free and quality education. 

Even after nearly nine years of the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, millions of girls are still out of school because of lack of female teachers, lack of separate toilets, poor safety and security within schools’ premises.” 

Speakers at the event pointed out that 27 per cent girls are married off before reaching their 18th birthday. 

At the conference, speakers demanded complete implementation of Right to Education Act, extension of the act to include all children from birth to 18 years of age, strengthening of the public education system and increased investment in girls' education as the way forward to universalise girls' access to free, safe, and quality education.