Panaji, Jan 2 (TOI): The directorate of education (DoE) has already framed the draft rules for the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in Goa and has forwarded the rules to the state government for its vetting by the law department.

Sources in the DoE said that the draft rules, once finalized, will then be forwarded to the state government for its approval and for the subsequent notification of the rules. In the meantime, the DoE has already decided to assimilate class V in the primary section as required by the new act and this decision is likely to be brought into force from the new academic year. While in Goa, classes I to IV are considered to be primary level, the RTE classifies standard I to V as primary level, classes VI to VII as upper primary level, standards IX and X as secondary level and classes XI and XII as higher secondary level.

Gearing up for the implementation of the RTE Act, the DoE has also begun the process of appointing 331 additional teachers in government primary schools to resolve the problem of single teacher schools in Goa at the primary level. During a meeting of states called by the ministry of human resource development (HRD) recently to discuss the implementation of the RTE Act, Goa had, along with a few other states, requested that they be allowed to appoint two-to-three more teachers in single teacher schools to aid the implementation of the provisions of the RTE Act.

As per a survey conducted by the HRD ministry, Goa has one of the highest percentages of single teacher schools in the country at 34.75% as against the national average of 13.73%. Of the 927 government primary schools in the state, 273 schools are single teacher schools.

As required by the RTE, the DoE has also prepared a plan to train in-service teachers in a phased manner over the next five years to upgrade their skills as required by the act.