E Arun and Tarun Kartick
Port Blair, May 05: Andaman and Nicobar Islands are called mini-India because these Islands are now home for people, from almost all the corners of India.
In these Islands people can be categorized into three broad categories viz pre-42, settlers and ten-years of continuous education. Rest everyone is considered as Mainlanders.
But many complain that in many cases children, who deserve to get ’10 years’ local certificate do not get same even after obtaining education for 10 continuous years in these Islands. Many cases they actually had to study for 12 continuous years to get a local certificate (under ten-years of continuous education category) and an Islander Card.
Local certificates and the Islander Identity cards, as everyone knows, enables one to buy ship/boat tickets at concessional prices and also avail concession for several other things which is not available to a non-islander.
As per present rules, if a child studies in LKG,UKG and then upto eight standard in Andaman, the Administration does not consider him/her qualified for local certificate under ten-years of continuous education category. This is because the Education Department doesn’t consider LKG or UKG as a formal education.
As per rules even after studying in LKG and UKG one has to study upto class X from class under to qualify for this category.
The administration on one side claims to give local certificates and other identity proofs on providing proof of ten years continuous education in these Islands but on the other hand administration denies taking into account the two years that the child spent to study in the Lower Kindergarten and Upper Kindergarten, which is now an essential part of the children’s education process.
If Administration starts accepting L.K.G and U.K.G duration certificates to provide local certificates, then many deserving students will get local certificates at an appropriate age and they can even travel to mainland and other places in ships or boats at concessional rates of the Islanders.
“This year I couldn’t visit my native in Mainland just because I was not able to afford full fares for the entire family upto mainland. My kid is in class IX and studied in these Islands for eleven years including LKG and UKG but still he is not fit for a local certificate, under ten-years of continuous education category” said a sad resident of Delanipur area.
When Andaman Sheekha contacted Mr. Yogesh, Assistant Commissioner, Head Quarter to know about the reasons for not accepting L.K.G and U.K.G for providing domicile certificates and Islander cards, he said that if the duration certificates are provided by the Education Department for L.K.G and U.K.G then the Domicile certificates will also be provided on the base of it.
He accepted that he has no idea whether LKG and UKG formally come under the Right to Education Act.
It seems that decision makers are not clear about this issue and because of which many deserving children are not getting Islander Certificate. If LKG and UKG do not come under RTE Act then why LKG and UKG are mandatory for admission in class I in many schools?
The competent authorities should soon look into the matter make sure that deserving children get their basic right of obtaining a Local Certificate, under ten-years of continuous education category, after completing 10 years of education and not 12 years.
This is just the periphery of the problem, the core is volcanic. TEN yrs category was relevant when their parents were from mainland. But, the children of so-called TEN yrs are born & brought up in these Islands, but still referred as TEN yrs. Their parents had come in late FORTIES & early FIFTIES and joined & served in various govt. departments and many of them have retired or even died.
Surprisingly, the Bengali settlers and others were brought under rehabilitation package during SEVENTIES, i.e. TWO decades after arrival of TEN yrs and today they are enjoying the status of “Settlers” and of late the very best category “OBC”. They are enjoying reservations in government job above all that they can compete in both “general” and “obc” categories, as being enjoyed by many Pre-42’s.
Hope the relevant competent authorities look into this seriously or else one day it may turn into mandal commission issue.