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Table of Contents

1. Introduction to The Right to Education...........................4

2. Constitutional history of the RTE...................................5

3. Features, impact and the limitations of the provision......7

4. Critical Analysis..............................................................9

5. Conclusion......................................................................11

6. Bibliography...................................................................13
 1. Introduction to The Right to Education

Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights.
It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits.
Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a
result of poverty.

Normative instruments of the United Nations and UNESCO lay down international legal
obligations for the right to education. These instruments promote and develop the right of every
person to enjoy access to education of good quality, without discrimination or exclusion. These
instruments bear witness to the great importance that Member States and the international
community attach to normative action for realizing the right to education. It is for governments
to fulfill their obligations both legal and political in regard to providing education for all of good
quality and to implement and monitor more effectively education strategies.

Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and
children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens.

India is home to 19% of the world’s Children. What this means is that India has the world’s
largest number of youngsters, which is largely beneficial, especially as compared to countries
like China, which has an ageing population.

The not-so-good news is that India also has one-third of the world’s illiterate population. “It’s
not as though literacy levels have not increased, but rather that the rate of the increase is rapidly
slowing. For example, while total literacy growth from 1991 to 2001 was 12.6%, it has declined
to 9.21%.”1

To combat this worrisome trend, the Indian government proposed the Right to Free and
Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, making education a fundamental right of every child in the
age group of 6 to 14.

1
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1925/Right-to-Education.html
The right to education is a universal entitlement to education. This is recognized in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as a human right that includes
the right to free, compulsory primary education for all, an obligation to develop secondary
education accessible to all, in particular by the progressive introduction of free secondary
education, as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education, ideally by the
progressive introduction of free higher education.

The right to education also includes a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals
who have not completed primary education. In addition to these access to education provisions,
the right to education encompasses the obligation to rule out discrimination at all levels of the
educational system, to set minimum standards and to improve the quality of education.

2. Constitutional History of the RTE

The Indian Constitution is known to be a document committed to social justice. As per expert
opinion, literacy forms the cornerstone for making the provision of equality of opportunity a
reality. The Indian Constitution has therefore recognized education as the essence of social
transformation, as is evident from its education specific Articles.

The judicial decision from which the right to education emanated as a fundamental right was
from the one rendered by the Supreme Court in Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka. In this case
the Supreme Court through a division bench comprising of justice Kuldip Singh and R.M. Sahai,
deciding on the constitutional of the practice of charging capitation ee held that:

‘The right to education flows directly from the right to life. The right to life and the dignity of an
individual cannot be assured unless it is accompanied by the right to education.’

The rationality of this judgment was further examined by a five judge bench in J.P. Unnikrishnan
v. State of Andhra Pradesh where the enforceability and the extent of the right to education was
clarified in the following words:
“The right to education further means that a citizen has a right to call upon the State to provide
educational facilities to him within the limits of its economic capacity and development.”
The same has also been reiterated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Bandhua Mukti Morcha, etc
v. Union of India2 specially referred to the earlier judgment made in this connection as under:
“In Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Education v. K.S. Gandhi, right to
education at the secondary stage was held to be a fundamental right.

In J.P. Unnikrishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh, a constitution Bench had held education upto
the age of 14 years to be a fundamental right…. It would be therefore incumbent upon the
State to provide facilities and opportunity as enjoined under Article 39 (e) and (f) of the
Constitution and to prevent exploitation of their childhood due to indigence and vagary.”3

Right to Education Act

The Right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into force from April 1,
2010. This was a historic day for the people of India as from this day the right to education will
be accorded the same legal status as the right to life as provided by Article 21A of the Indian
Constitution. Every child in the age group of 6-14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary
education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighbourhood.

The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution
of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to
fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine. The
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the
consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full
time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies
certain essential norms and standards.

2
http://lawtimesjournal.in/bandhua-mukti-morcha-vs-union-of-india-ors/

3
https://www.escr-net.org/caselaw/2006/unni-krishnan-jp-ors-v-state-andhra-pradesh-ors-cited-1993-air-217-
1993-scr-1-594-1993
Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010. The title of the RTE Act
incorporates the words ‘free and compulsory’. ‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a
child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school which is not supported by the
appropriate Government, shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may
prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education. ‘Compulsory education’
casts an obligation on the appropriate Government and local authorities to provide and ensure
admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by all children in the 6-14 age
group. With this, India has moved forward to a rights based framework that casts a legal
obligation on the Central and State Governments to implement this fundamental child right as
enshrined in the Article 21A of the Constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the RTE
Act.

3. Features, impact and the limitations of the provision

The RTE Act provides for- Right of children to free and compulsory education till completion of
elementary education in a neighborhood school.

 It clarifies that ‘compulsory education’ means obligation of the appropriate government to

provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and
completion of elementary education to every child in the six to fourteen age group. ‘Free’
means that no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which
may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education.

 It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age appropriate class.

 It specifies the duties and responsibilities of appropriate Governments, local authority and
parents in providing free and compulsory education, and sharing of financial and other
responsibilities between the Central and State Governments.

 It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil Teacher Ratios
(PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school-working days, teacher-working hours.

 It provides for rational deployment of teachers by ensuring that the specified pupil
teacher ratio is maintained for each school, rather than just as an average for the State
or District or Block, thus ensuring that there is no urban-rural imbalance in teacher
postings. It also provides for prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-
educational work, other than decennial census, elections to local authority, state
legislatures and parliament, and disaster relief.
 It provides for appointment of appropriately trained teachers, i.e. teachers with the
requisite entry and academic qualifications.
 It prohibits -
(a) physical punishment and mental harassment; (b) screening procedures for
admission of children; (c) capitation fee; (d) private tuition by teachers and (e) running
of schools without recognition,
 It provides for development of curriculum in consonance with the values enshrined in
the Constitution, and which would ensure the all-round development of the child,
building on the child’s knowledge, potentiality and talent and making the child free of
fear, trauma and anxiety through a system of child friendly and child centered
learning.

Major provisions of the RTE Act, 2009

Every child between the age of six to fourteen years, shall have the right to free and
compulsory education in a neighborhood school, till completion of elementary education.
For this purpose, no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses
which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education.
 Where a child above six years of age has not been admitted to any school or though
admitted, could not complete his or her elementary education, then, he or she shall be
admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age.

For carrying out the provisions of this Act, the appropriate government and local authority
shall establish a school, if it is not established, within the given area, within a period of
three years, from the commencement of this Act.

The Central and the State Governments shall have concurrent responsibility for providing
funds for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

This Act is an essential step towards improving each child's accessibility to secondary and
higher education. The Act also contains specific provisions for disadvantaged groups,
such as child labourers, migrant children, children with special needs, or those who have a
disadvantage owing to social, cultural, economical, geographical, linguistic, gender or any
such factor. With the implementation of this Act, it is also expected that issues of school
drop-out, out-of-school children, quality of education and availability of trained teachers
would be addressed in the short to medium term plans.

The enforcement of the Right to Education Act brings the country closer to achieving the
objectives and mission of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for
All (EFA) and hence is a historic step taken by the Government of India.

4. Critical Analysis- To what extent has RTE achieved its

Objectives
An area of concern is the loss of focus on providing quality education, with the current focus and
emphasis majorly targeted towards enrollment numbers and improving infrastructure standards
of schools. The ability to reach the unreachable segments of the society with quality education
that will bring about an equal education opportunity India for all, and not an India that is divided
between the elite and the underprivileged, is yet to be achieved. India, being at the cusp of
economic growth, and its demographic arguably at its peak with nearly 63 per cent of the
population between the age group of 15 to 59 years, it will be a challenge for the country to
effectively utilize this huge population in the next few decades. The main challenge for the
nation, at this time will be to envision and implement effective policies which will work to the
advantage of the demographic dividend, hence spurring the nation’s economic growth.
Investments in social sectors like education will be crucial to garner the benefits and potential of
this demographic dividend. At such an important juncture, it will be worthwhile to look back at
one of the most important Acts with respect to education i.e. the RTE Act. India became one of
135 countries to make education the fundamental right of every child when the RTE Act was
passed by the Indian Parliament on 4 August 2009. This year, we have completed over half a
decade since the Act came into effect on 1 April 2010 and now we can sit back and take stock of
the progress and ponder over the success stories that the Act has achieved in these six years.
Also, more importantly, we must analyse where the Act has failed to significantly impact and the
reasons thereof, so we can strengthen the dream of a literate and educated India, where every
child in the nation has the fundamental right to education.

The National Sample Survey (NSS) estimates the percentage of Out of School Children (OOSC)
as of September 2014 to be only 3 per cent of the total children between six to 13 years of age. 4
However, between states there is a large section of such OOSC children, who have enrolled in
schools but have never attended. Such data throws light on the fact that though we have been
able to highlight certain numbers as success indicators, the end benefits have not really
percolated to the society at large. There are other social issues like prevention of child labour etc.
which is an important area to consider for providing benefits to such OOSC children who are
enrolled in schools but never attend. In Haryana and Rajasthan, the numbers of such OOSC
students are highest. The UNESCO global education report released in April 2015 reflects that
India has made a significant progress and has reduced the OOSC by over 90 per cent and has
achieved the target of ‘universal primary education’. Though enrollments are increasing, school
infrastructure is improving, access to schools is becoming easier, learning outcomes among
children are not improving. Though infrastructure and access to school is important for a child,

4
https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/Assessing-the-impact-of-Right-to-Education-Act.pdf
and has been given due recognition, now is the time for the government to shift its attention to
learning outcomes. As these years are the building blocks for a child’s future, without much
delay, provision of quality of education should be on the radar of the government under the RTE
Act. National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) and Ministry of
Human Resources Department, (MHRD) have made an attempt to assess the state level
performance based on an Educational Development Index (EDI). A set of 24 indicators has been
chosen for the computation of EDI based on four broad parameters namely: Access,
Infrastructure, Teachers and Outcome indicators. “According to the DISE 2013-2014 reports,
Puducherry was ranked first in EDI ranking, followed by Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Himachal
Pradesh and Karnataka. The worst performing states based on EDI score are Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.”5 However, the question that looms large is the effectiveness
of the EDI indicators in the assessment of the quality of learning outcomes. “When a correlation
was made between the EDI scores of 2012 and the National Assessment Survey Results (NAS),
2012 conducted by National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in 2012 to
assess learning outcomes in English and Mathematics, it revealed significant variations among
states based on the two parameters. Kerala which ranked first in learning i.e. NAS, ranked
fourteenth in EDI. Similarly, West Bengal which ranked seventh in NAS, ranked one of the
lowest in EDI i.e. 31 out of a total of 38.04.”6 This reinstates the fact that some states are
increasingly focusing on compliance with the RTE Act norms and compromising on the learning
ability imparted to the children. Compliance does not necessarily imply better quality learning
outcomes. In the face of such results, we should look back and reassess the indicators to
formulate new assessment methods that will measure the quality of education and not only the
quantitative aspect.

5
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/219110/13/13_chapter%203.pdf

6
https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/Assessing-the-impact-of-Right-to-Education-Act.pdf
 5. Conclusion
RTE Act, 2009 which has been passed by the Parliament can play an important role in
accomplishing universal elementary education in India only if it is implemented in a proper
manner. The success & failure of RTE Act 2009 would rest on consistent political attention.
Every educated person should come forward & join hands together to spread the usefulness of
education to illiterate parents who are not able to teach their children because of the social evil
practices in India.

Education is the pillar of the nation. If the citizens of the nation are educated, they become assets
for the nation & can help in achieving economic growth & development otherwise illiterate
citizens can be liability for their nation. Hence, the 4A’s should be taken into consideration for
bringing out the real effect of the RTE Act, 2009 which are availability, accessibility,
acceptability & adaptability. These are to be respected, protected & fulfilled by the government
as a supreme duty bearer but at the same time other actors in the educative playfield such as-
parents, teachers, schools, local authorities, government schemes etc should also cooperate to
understand the value of education.

One-sixth of the world’s population nearly 855 million people are illiterate. Over 130 million
children in the developing countries do not even get basic education facilities. 7 In our global
economy, educational deprivation is one of the biggest challenges faced with the problem of
unemployment, poverty, poor economic development & high crime rate etc. Educational
deprivation can have dire consequences as it can easily diminish political power and can also
lead to corruption easily.

The dream of free & compulsory education for each and every child in India seems to be still
shaping up but the question again prevails that this Act passed by the Parliament will help to
improve the situation in a considerable manner or not. Every generation looks up to the next
generation with the hope that they shall build up a nation better than the present. Therefore
education which empowers the future generation should always be the main concern for any
nation. It is now an undisputed fact that right to education can be realized on a national level

7
https://www.statista.com/topics/6146/education-in-india/
only through compulsory education, or better say, through free compulsory primary education.
However due to the widespread poverty and various prejudices in the society, the efforts to
develop an educational system in India with full access, equality and quality of education has not
been achieved. The inability to check the dropout rates among the marginalized sections of the
population is another cause of worry.
 Bibliography
Websites-

 https://www.casemine.com
 https://www.lawteacher.net
 https://www.statista.com/topics/6146/education-in-india/
 http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/968A00BF-EA62-4871-AF51-
AE0DB6F096F1.pdf

 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/219110/13/13_chapter%203.pdf
 https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/Assessing-the-impact-of-Right-to-
Education-Act.pdf
 http://lawtimesjournal.in/bandhua-mukti-morcha-vs-union-of-india-ors/
 https://www.escr-net.org/caselaw/2006/unni-krishnan-jp-ors-v-state-andhra-pradesh-ors-cited-
1993-air-217-1993-scr-1-594-1993
 http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1925/Right-to-Education.html

Books-

 Indian Constitutional Law- M.P. Jain