Highlighting Gaps Between Policy and Practice
Yukti Sharma
RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN HARYANA: AN APPRAISAL by Bindu Duggal Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, 2018, 233 pp., Rs.745
January 2020, volume 44, No 1

The book as the name suggests is based on a research study aimed at examining the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in the State of Haryana. The study was funded by the Department of Planning, Government of Haryana as has been duly acknowledged by the author. The text of the book gives an extensive description of the study and its findings, on various parameters drawn from the Act. It begins with an introduction to the study and each subsequent chapter gives a detailed description of data drawn from both primary and secondary sources and the corresponding analysis. The book ends with some significant policy recommendations and suggestions, some of which are specific to the context of Haryana, while some have generic appeal.

The author sets the stage in the introduction by providing a historical background of education in India. The constitutional provisions and universalization of elementary education and its need in the post-Independence period are discussed at length. The major recommendations of various education commissions and policies are then described. One wonders why there is adherence to the factual and almost zero emphasis on a critical analysis.

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