Kabil Sibal seeks to balance Central and State education Acts - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal has said that he wants to build a consensus with state governments, ahead of the implementation of the central Right To Education Act (RTE) coming into effect from April 1. Private schools in India will now have the right to decide on the fees they charge from their students, and the salaries they pay to their teachers, Sibal has stated. Speaking at a conference here, Sibal said that a national consensus, however, was necessary. He said discussions would be held with state education departments ahead of the implementation of the central Right to Education (RTE) Act, which comes into effect in April this year. "Where there is a conflict between the RTE and the state legislation, we will try to mend this and build a national consensus. We will hold meetings with the state departments and find ways to balance the state acts with the central act," said Sibal. In Delhi, Sibal's proposal contradicts the 1973 Delhi School Education Act, which stipulates that teachers in private schools cannot be paid less than their counterparts in government schools. Sibal defends his stance, saying the contradiction would be invalid once the RTE is implemented. "The law on the subject is the following; where there is a conflict between the state law and the RTE, the RTE will prevail. Where there is no conflict, the state law will prevail," said Sibal. Teachers working at public schools are required to be paid a minimum of 22,000 rupees a month, according to the Sixth Pay Commission set up in 2006 by the Cabinet to revise the salaries of government employees.