The Engaged Citizens Forum and PRS organised a discussion on the Right to Education Bills in Bangalore.

The Engaged Citizen Forum (ECF) is a first of its kind people’s forum organized by the professionals residing in Purva Riviera, Bangalore.The Forum subsequently forwarded the relevant feedback to the sponsors of the legislation.  The background research for the key issues for discussion was provided by PRS. The panelists included Chakshu Roy from PRS, P. R. Dasgupta (former Education Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India), Venkatesh Murthy (Youth For Seva, Bangalore),  Vishnu Agnihotri (Test Development, Educational Initiatives), Sultan Syed Ahmed (Edumedia), Hyacinth D'sa (Vineethi Learning Centre), Sheela Ramanathan (Human Rights law Network, Bangalore), R. Sailesh Chandra Gupta (Former Executive Editor, Prajavani- Sudha - Mayura - Deccan Herald Group).

The discussion focused on various aspects of the Bill, and the key issues that arose. The key themes that arose spanned the issue of the status of education in government schools, issues related to the learning assessments, importance of innovation, as well as the concerns of the special education. The discussion was preceded by a PRS presentation on the law making process.