New Delhi:
With the Right To Education Act coming into force from Thursday, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said that the education bill is a huge step forward.
In order to fulfill the needs for more teachers Sibal said: "Seven lakh more teachers will be employed."
Sibal hailed the realization of the bill as "tryst with destiny" in the education sector.
"Tomorrow will be a historic day as the RTE Act would come into effect. Education is going to be a Constitutional right...It is a tryst with destiny in the area of education," Sibal told reporters today.
'Tryst with destiny' is the famous phrase associate with Jawaharlal Nehru who used it in his historic speech at midnight of August 14, 1947 when India attained independence.
Sibal said providing quality education is the dream of Congress leadership, its president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The new law will ensure that quality education is provided to children of all community, including minorities and backward classes.
"Any child can demand his right for education from tomorrow. He will not be denied this right," Sibal said.
He said implementation of the Act is not the responsibility of Centre alone but all stakeholders, including parents, children, NGOs, state governments and local governments.
"All the stakeholders need to carry out their responsibilities," he said.
The prime minister will address the nation on the new law tomorrow.
The Act provides for 25 per cent reservation of seats for weaker sections in private and unaided schools. However, this reservation will not be implemented from this year as the admission season is almost over.
"The reservation will be implemented from 2011-12. It will not be implemented in the classes in one go. It will be implemented over a period of 12 years," he said.
As per an estimate, the government will have to spend Rs 1.71 lakh crore in the next five years for its implementation. Sibal said that the government has arranged the required funds for implementing the law.