Re: [IAC#RG] Need help securing the rights of homeschoolers

With respect to list member Vidyut's observation wrt children with disabilities and appropriate schooling, note that, in a bizarre interpretation of RTE, presumably, the Maharashtra State has unilaterally decided that all schoolchildren (aged 6-14) must be enrolled with UIDAI. Aside from the obvious, that biometrics for children are unreliable as a lifetime proof of identity, hence identity update is a necessity for such enrollments (at a so far unspecified cost and impact on the viability of the UID as a lifelong unique identifying number), the order implicitly assumes that dropping out is an offence, which is tantamount to the assumption that state schooling is the only form of education envisaged under the RTE.  I have filed a PIL in protest, now in the Bombay High Court, FYI. If Vidyut would care to contact me directly, perhaps an affidavit as an impacted parent could be admitted to the petition. Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android From:"Shanti Bhushan" <shantibhush@gmail.com> Date:Tue, 30 Jun, 2015 at 8:04 am Subject:Re: [IAC#RG] Need help securing the rights of homeschoolers I agree that every child should be a willing participant in all activities of the school.If the teachers are really good they would make the activities so interesting that no child would be able to resist the temptation to join in the activity. Sent from my iPad On 28-Jun-2015, at 7:37 pm, Vidyut <wide.aware@gmail.com> wrote: I hear you Sarbajit, Gaur J K. I will explore the PWD Act as well as other options coming up in our discussions. Shanti Bhushan ji, I understand your example - the absence of abuse and lack of violence, in my view is essential for respectful raising of children - who in turn become non-violent adults. Children who grow up learning that might is right from adults who force them to comply, eventually grow up and realize that they can force others now that they aren't powerless. My vision goes beyond this. Compulsion in itself is disrespect, given that the child is not consulted and a willing participant of school (eventual adaptation is not voluntary participation - it is survival in the face of unchangeable circumstances). Though I do see that it will be difficult for schools to hold this high a standard and have any sort of classes at all. In any event, if a child must go to school, the lack of abuse, as you describe in your example, is important to their well being. Thank you for your solid words of support, Supratim Basu. May I assume this staunch support to be for the cause beyond my son and I as individuals? I ask because the view among the homeschooling community at this point is such that we continue to homeschool and avoid trouble. However, if ANY of us get into unavoidable trouble with the law, we combine resources and assist that person however we can, and in the process hopefully improve things for us all. So far, the few instances that have happened have been managed with token enrolments in school (but not sending child) and "managing" the situation till the child is over 14 years of age for those with only a year or two to go. However, given that the education system is on a drive to get 100% enrolment and their system of registering is binary "schooled/dropout", eventually, homeschoolers worry about their "dropout" status. The situation is worse in rural India than urban, because in several places the child health workers have a record of all small children (used for vaccinations and such), and they pass a list of those who come of schooling age to the local school. Fortunately, there are fewer homeschoolers in rural areas than urban at this point. Vidyut Vidyut Social Media: Twitter Facebook Google+ Diaspora Blogs: Intellectual Anarchy || personal || Nisarga || tech || Homeschooling || Fek Le On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 11:21 AM, Supratim Basu <xsupratim@gmail.com> wrote: Dear Vidyut, It has been fascinating to read your posts about the RTE and more importantly, your efforts with your child/son - I agree 100% with practically all your views. The state has no business interfering with how a parent raises her/his children, as long as there is no abuse (mental, physical, sexual) involved. In fact, in the past, when there were no good quality, mid-day meals in schools (Akshaya Patra has been a trail blazer), I was of the view that the state or do-gooders had no business in interfering with parents who put their children to work - it was either that or they starve. It is inhuman to say that the child must die of lack of food, but must not be allowed to work. The vile and unconsitutional RTE has nothing to do about guaranteeing children's rights to education or improving the quality of education or getting to universal primary/secondary education as much as the State forcing private parties to do all the things that it had itself failed to do - and, in the process, destroying both old and new private institutions that have established themselves as islands of quality in this squalid nation. However, given that we are a slave nation, filled with kneelers looking to the mai-baap sarkaar to save them and uplift them, this act was hailed as a "saviour" for poor children. Pah! In another 10-15 years, as the foundations of education in this country have been completely hollowed out, and even the little education that we could get in this country totally destroyed, watch two things - all the elite moving their children to schools abroad (from grades 5 - already there is a rush now to go to US, UK, Australia, Singapore post Grade 12) and a rush to homeschooling for those who can not afford international schools. Coming back to your issue, Vidyut - I don't know where you are located (and it is best to remain anonymous on such groups), but if you wish to continue with homeschooling, continue to do so bravely and without qualms. If the state were to interfere with your upbringing of your child at any point, do get in touch, privately, with me - we have a group of legal resources that we can use to litigate the state to a halt. Who knows we may even be able to overturn key sections of the Act in such a  fight and restore parents to their rightful, per-eminent position in the upbringing of their children. Shanti Bhushan ji - one comment, compulsion of any form is bad. And, I speak from personal experience - in my school, we had music as a compulsory subject in Grades 5 and 6, with a harridan of a teacher. Being unable to carry a tone to save my life and being totally unwilling to sing in public, as a result, she made that 40 mins each week of my life a total and complete misery. I would not give in and sing, and she would not leave me alone, heaping abuse and humiliation each weak. The good thing about that episode though was I realised, very young, that authority figures needed to be challenged on facts, and not blindly obeyed - whether they be parents, elderly relatives, teachers, bosses or any other so-called older and wiser folks. And, it is something that I have tried to ingrain in every younger child I meet, including my own kids. Question, and do not submit blindly. Thanks Supratim On 28 June 2015 at 08:32, Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com> wrote: Vidyut In terms of the India Against Corruption Charter, we can help individuals or groups of individuals ... to resolve their grievances. Furthermore "Educational reform" and "Healthcare reform and delivery" are thrust areas indicated by our members in our Charter doc. As we are presently discussing the "rights" of CHILDREN to be homeschooled, the view seems to be that they have no right to be homeschooled. They do have rights to be schooled in "appropriate" NEIGHBOURHOOD facilities. The rights for your son (as observed by Mr. Gaur) actually flow from the Constitution through the PWD Act 1995, and the RTE Act has apparently failed to adequately provide/legislate POLICY for disabled citizens like your son in consonance with PWD Act. This is an issue to be resolved between the Welfare Ministry and the MHRD so that the appropriate governments can enforce it. The PWD Act contains, at least on paper, a number of grievance redressal mechanisms, and a grand vision of a future "international" standard education for the disadvantaged. Perhaps you can start using these grievance mechanisms ? BTW, we have many list members individually waging war with MHRD and perhaps its time we come under IAC's banner for it.. Sarbajit On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 11:54 AM, Vidyut <wide.aware@gmail.com> wrote: Sarbajit, Support for disabled children outside metros is lacking. RTE puts the onus on schools to go the extra mile to accept disabled children in normal schools, which probably would apply where special facilities are not available. Given the under funded, under staffed schools, this is a tall order. Worse, the "abled" penchant for educating disabled children to "empower" them can be really absurd given that this is a child who will likely need life long care. What difference does it make whether he learns the botanical name of something or not? Is his learning not better off being relevant to his circumstances and needs? Many disabled children to not have the strength, energy and stamina of normal children. They tire easily, have less control of their limbs. Shouldn't education, in that case be even more laser focused to use that small window of ability to impart the most essential and useful things instead of an ambitious array of things not useful for most people, let alone disabled children? But beyond that, it isn't an issue of disability. Whether disabled or normal, a child should not be prevented from a unique, quality environment the parent is willing to provide for its learning. For example, my parenting beliefs do not allow me to keep my son with anyone except me or extremely trusted and attentive people he is comfortable with before he learns to speak adequately enough to convey if he has a problem - I don't care what qualifications the govt thinks teachers have or even teachers for special needs have. My compass as a parent deems it my responsibility to ensure the well being of my child. My parenting beliefs also do not allow me to leave my son ANYWHERE without his consent. Kids crying at the gate is not acceptable parenting, in my opinion. That they adapt when given no choice is no redemption either. There is something fundamentally wrong with a world that forces independence on children at younger and younger ages (in a world where adults often cannot judge people reliably) and then nags adult offspring for not being close. Why would a child that had to make sense of an alien world on his or her own cling to a parent after making sense of it? My child does not even get insulted, let alone hit. I cannot trust schools to not abuse him given the low quality and emotional quotient of teachers themselves rooted in a culture of authority being right and a child's space not having any inherent value. Taunts, sarcasm, scoldings, public humiliation, domination, overruling a child's wish (and thus autonomy) for no critical reason are normal behavior of teachers in schools - even where teachers are not allowed to hit children. These are views that are extremely prevalent among homeschoolers. The child is the topmost consideration in all choices and is respected as an individual with intelligence, preferences and the right to choose as far as possible. So it is an entire category of people who number in the tens of thousands probably (and growing!) that the RTE rides rough shod over. Right now homeschoolers find chinks, keep head down and hope their kids are over 14 before the other RTE shoe drops, etc. Others convince local schools to enroll their children on record, but never send them to school and hope they can get away with it. There is the constant fear that the law could be used to target them and even take children away from them - by a spouse in the event of divorce, would be a prime example. I know two women who had to settle for a no maintenance divorce - for them or kids when their husband threatened to take them away for homeschooling, or force her to send them to school - when they had no problem with homeschooling, indeed supported it and were active participants. I face this threat too from someone who never bathed his son in five years. So this is how our rights get violated. No idea how to put it specifically as an answer to your question. Basic issue is that we hold child rights to a very very high degree and that the education system (specifically as per RTE) is not compatible with it. In case anyone is interested, on a side note, here is a vision of schools that could respect children's rights and allow them to thrive https://aamjanata.com/school-reloaded/ - if there were such a school, I'd send my child there. Vidyut Post: "indiaresists@lists.riseup.net" Exit: "indiaresists-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net" Quit: "https://lists.riseup.net/www/signoff/indiaresists" Help: https://help.riseup.net/en/list-user WWW : http://indiaagainstcorruption.net.in Post: "indiaresists@lists.riseup.net" Exit: "indiaresists-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net" Quit: "https://lists.riseup.net/www/signoff/indiaresists" Help: https://help.riseup.net/en/list-user WWW : http://indiaagainstcorruption.net.in