MODULE 2[E]: ARTICLE 21A TO THE INDIAN

CONSTITUTION
1. INTRODUCTION
 The Constitution of India is the world’s largest written constitution and the supreme law
of the nation. It imparts constitutional supremacy and it is adopted by the people.
Presently it has a preamble, 5 appendices, 25 parts with 12 schedules, 448 articles and
101 amendments.
 The history of the Indian constitution lays firstly from the formation of Cabinet
Commission,1946 led by three men namely Stafford Cripps, Petrick-Lawrence and
A.V.Alexander who recommended for Interim Government,1946 which was set-up under
the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
 Soon after this the Constituent assembly was formed where the members of legislative
assembly were elected under the chairmanship of Sir S.Sinha and later Dr.Rajendra
Prasad as the permanent elected chairman of the assembly. On 29th August,1947 the
Drafting Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of B.R.Ambedkar the
constitutional advisor B.N.Rau. They created the draft of the constitution and finally the
draft was approved, adopted and signed by 284 members on 26th November,1949 which
is also celebrated as “Law Day''.

Many of us know about the National Anthem and the National flag, but it is a lesser known fact
that the National Anthem was adopted by the constituent assembly on 24 thJanuary ,1950 and the
National Flag was adopted on 22nd July,1947.

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There are certain features of the constitution such as

➢ It is a written constitution. It took around 2 years,11 months and 18 days to enact the
constitution, it is very detailed and had 395 articles, 22 parts, 8 schedules at the time of
commencement.

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 ➢ It has a Preamble; preamble is nothing but an introduction to the constitution. The
Preamble tells us what
were the basic ideas
the constitutional
makers had while
drafting the
constitution. Preamble
declares India as
Sovereign, Socialist,
Secular, Democratic
and Republic. The
preamble was
amended once by the
42nd amendment,1976
and words socialist
and secular were
added along with
integrity.
➢ The Indian
constitution is Quasi-
federal i.e, it is neither
federal nor unitary but
the mixture of both
➢ The Indian
constitution is both rigid and flexible in case of amendment. Under Article 368 of the
constitution it describes the same

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 ➢ The Indian constitution also mentions Fundamental rights which are under Part III-
Article 12-35. Fundamental rights are basic rights which are necessary for development
of humans and their intellect. These are enforceable under the court of law.
➢ Indian constitution also mentions Fundamental Duties under Part IV A, article 51A, these
duties are not enforceable by the court of law. However, after the 86th amendment,2002
eleventh duty was added to the list.
➢ Indian constitution also recognised the Directive Principle of State Policy under Part IV.
These laws put an obligation on the state to do certain things. These are however not
enforceable by law.
➢ Indian constitution also has an emergency provision.

2. ARTICLE 21A - Right to Education

2.1. Education in India

Education is a process of enlightenment which is received in a systematic way in the form of

instruction, learning especially at school or university. Education gives a better understanding of
everything in and around the world. India has a history of giving a traditional system of
education to their children, there is mention of GURUKUL during the ancient Indian period
which allowed only Brahmins and Kshatriyas to take education and kept the others deprived of
learning. India was under the influence of religion where the Gurus(teachers) used to impart
knowledge based on vedic literature, they also taught about morals and use of various tools.
Hence, GURUKULS were regarded as good for elementary education during the ancient period.

After the coming of Muslim in India, all the vedic education culture was destroyed and
education system of Muslims were attached to Mosques only. The Mughal rulers destroyed all
the Hindu and Buddhist educational institutions. Muslim education system had two types of
institutions - Maqtabas and Madrassahs. Education was given great importance under this period

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but no satisfactory provision was made. Muslim period saw huge progress in Astronomy,
Mathematics, Historyetc but after the fall of Mughal emperor Arungazeb a vacuum was created
in education and culture in the society.

In the modern period to refill the hallow in the society the Christian Missionary attempted
to spread education where their aim was to convert Indian to Christianity that’s why most of the
missionary schools were attached to churches. The main story of modern education marks the
coming of East India Company who were compelled to accept responsibility for education in
India. After independence the nation kept the education sector as a tool for the upliftment for
social change. After the drafting of constitution Article 45 laid that the state shall endeavour
education within 10 years from the commencement of constitution for free to all the children
until 14 years. Article 15, 17and 46 mentions about safeguarding the educational interest of
backward classes. Article 29(1) provides that any person living in the territory of India having a
distinct language or script has the right to construct the same. These were adopted in order to
uplift the education in the society

The government also appointed the University Education Commission,1948 under the
chairmanship of Dr.S.Radha Krishnan and submitted its report in 1949.

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After this commission there were other commissions which were appointed for the reformation
under the educational system of the country. After analysing all the aspects and deteriorating
condition of education in the society Article 21A was inserted as right to education.

2.2. Right to Education- Article 21A

Any article with the mention of sub letter A,B,Cetc indicates that these provisions were inserted
by constitutional amendment act. This article was amended by 86th constitutional amendment
act,2002. It reads as state i.e, the legislative and executive body shall provide free and
compulsory education to all the children from the age group of 6-14 years in any manner
determined by the state. After the amendment this right became a fundamental right for
elementary education. Under this article education is only mentioned for elementary level
because higher education needs more resources and the state does not have those resources to
impart the same. Since the age prescribed is children from 6-14 years only which indicates basic
education.

3. INTERNATIONAL PROSPECT

Article 26 in Universal Declaration of Human Right(UDHR), there was a mention of free and
compulsory education although it was not binding but persuasive.

3.1. Was there any provision in the constitution before this amendment?
Yes, Article 45 Part IV of the Indian constitution under Directive Principles of State Policy had a
provision of education, since this was not a fundamental right hence it was not enforceable by
law.
Again, after amendment,2002 under article 51A it mentions the fundamental duty which
addresses that all citizens of India shall provide educational opportunity for their children aging

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between 6-14 years, since it is a fundamental duty hence not enforceable in the court. It is to be
remembered that only after amendment, right to education was converted into fundamental right.

4. CASES
In the case of Mohini Jain v/s State of Karnataka¹, Supreme court analysed that right to
education is also a matter of choice and dignity and is a fundamental right at all levels, at all
levels here means from elementary to higher education, this was decided by divisional court.

Later in the case of Unnikrishnan v/s State of Andhra Pradesh², the judgement given in Mohini
jain’s case was overruled by 2/3rd majority and right to education was given with the age limit of
6-14 years. This case is also known as “Capitation fees case”.

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Not only amendment but also in 2001-2002 government policy was taken which laid
SarvShikshaAbhiyan with the motto of “Sabhpadhe, sab bhare”. After the amendment of 2002,
parliament enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education act (RTE),2009.
This act provides

● That every child has the right to take full time elementary education
● Education should be satisfactory and of equitable quality
● In a formal manner
● It must satisfy certain essential norm and standards

Private schools
Under this act it says that even though providing elementary education by the State is mandatory
and free for students aging from 6-14 years, the children cannot directly go and take admission in
private schools; except when there are no seats under government schools, local authority
schools or government aided schools. Private schools are to provide education under RTE quota
only to those children who were deprived of education due to unavailability of seats in the prior
three schools listed.

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In the case of Education Rights Trust V/s State of Karnataka and another³, the High Court
decided that students have to take admission in either government schools/ government aided
schools/local authority school under right to education act prior to taking admission in any
private schools. This was implemented because if any person directly takes up admission in
private school then the motive of providing education by the state will be unsuccessful as the
state promotes education under government schools.

Why was Right to Education made a Fundamental Right?

★ For economically backward classes
★ A relief to people who cannot provide primary or compulsory education
★ To prevail equality in the society

5. RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPULSORY

EDUCATION ACT,2009

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Objectives:
➢ Free and compulsory education, in a satisfactory quality to children from 6-14 years
➢ Specially for weaker and disadvantaged group of the society
➢ Not a mere responsibility but for the enrichment and enrichment of the education
➢ Promotion and encouragement of education among rural society

Provisions – Right of
children
❏ Admission of the children
❏ Standardized education
❏ No discrimination against
caste/creed

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 ❏ Completion of elementary education
❏ Includes education to be rendered to dropouts students as well
❏ No child is liable to pay fees for completing elementary education
❏ Parental duty to send children to school
❏ Compulsion on the state to provide elementary education

Provisions for
Teachers

This act has also laid down provision for

teachers, after the act being passed it was
realized that around 10.6 lakh teachers
would require professional training which
was to be completed within five years of the
implementation of the act. Another hurdle
was that there were not enough teachers.
Later the supreme court appointed a panel
that studied the state of teacher education
and in 2012, teachers were trained through
substandard “teaching shops”. According to
National University of Education Planning
and Administration (NUEPA) and Ministry
of Human Resource Development (MHRD) suggested that country requires 0.51 million teachers
⁴
to implement the proper utilization of this act. The table 1.1 below shows the level-wise teachers

student ratio for enriched education and limited crowd to enhance concentration of the students.
TABLE 1.1

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 School 1951 1981 2011

Primary 1:35 1:54 1:64

Upper-primary 1:36 1:24 1:33

Secondary/senior 1:12 1:12 1:20

secondary

Provisions for
Schools

Under this act there were certain

guidelines laid for the schools so
that they can determine the
standard to be laid. The following
were the norms mentioned under
this provision.
❏ Instruction related to better
infrastructure
❏ Better facilities for every
student
❏ Student teacher ratio
should be maintained for each

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 school
❏ Proper curriculum should be maintained specifying list of working days
❏ Working hour for teachers must also be specified

Curriculum of Right of children to free and compulsory

education act, 2009

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Protection of Child’s right
This act deals with every grievance and violation of the right of the child in suppression to take
education or any other grounds that bars him from completing his education.

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Firstly, the grievance is addressed and sought by the Local Authorities then it goes to the State
Commissions for Protection of Child Rights and at the end it has to be addressed to National
Commission for Protection of Child Rights if the matter remains unresolved

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Ten points of RTE, act

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 6. PRESENT SCENARIO
This act was basically inserted in order to enrich the educational sector and promote literacy. But
the ground reality is that just a single act in achieving elementary education could not be
implemented as it was thought. There were many areas which were not focused upon.

TABLE1.2

Literacy Rate(1901-2011)

Year Population(millions) Male Femal Total Decadal Population Sex ratio

e Growth%

1901 236 9.83 0.60 5.35 ----- 77 972

1911 249 10.56 1.05 5.92 0.57 82 964

1921 248 12.21 1.81 7.16 1.24 81 955

1931 276 15.59 2.93 9.50 2.34 90 950

1941 315 24.90 7.30 16.10 6.6 103 945

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1951 360 24.95 7.93 16.67 0.57 117 946

1961 439 34.44 12.95 24.02 7.35 142 941

1971 548 39.45 18.69 29.45 5.43 117 930

1981 685 46.47 24.88 36.67 7.22 216 934

1991 844 64.20 39.19 52.19 15.52 267 927

2001 1028 75.3 53.7 64.8 12.61 325 933

2011 1210 82.14 65.46 74.04 9.24 382 940

⁵
In the above table 1.2 it shows the progress of education from the British time till 2011, after

screening the figures it can be observed that the level of education degraded from then till date.
However, the population has increased rapidly in these years but the growth in the educational
sector didn’t see any greater scope. There could be many reasons like unwillingness of children
from going to school, poverty and child labour, lack of interest in studies, schools located in
faraway places, dropouts, poor infrastructure investment in education, sec discrimination, etc.
These factors totally destroy the mechanism of the system formed for imparting education.
Seeing the condition, the government implemented few policies and acts
★ National Programme of Mid-day meals in schools- launched in 15th August,1995 with
the motive of enriching nutrition level and making children go to school
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 ★ RashtriyaMadhyamikShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA)- launched in March 2002 for enhancing
and improving the quality of secondary education
★ Model School Scheme- launched in November 2008 for providing quality education to
talented rural children by setting up high quality modern school
★ Saakshar Bharat (SB)- launched in 2009 mainly focusing on female literacy
★ Jan ShikshanSanasthans (JSS)- this programme provides vocational training to all non-
literates and drop-out
★ SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA) – launched in 2001 with the motive of providing free and
compulsory elementary education for children aging from 6-14 years
★ National Programme for education of Girls at elementary level (NPEGEL) – this
scheme is provided to address all the obstacles to girls by providing education at micro
level through flexible and decentralized process

There are other many ways which hinted us about how important education is, a person without
education is unlikely to know the things around him. Basic education is a must in order to
promote and generate a high rate of income in the country. In a movie named Hindi Medium by
Irfan Khan it portrays how parents get into a rat race to get their wards admitted to the best
private schools despite of throat cutting fee structure, it also shows the bitter truth of how parents
are unlikely to get their child admitted to government schools thinking it to be a matter of low
strata. It is us who need to understand that government schools are built to aid the education in
the society and discouraging people from going to these schools can hamper the motto of basic
education.

The policies, programmes, act alone cannot help the society to be literate, it is necessary to
understand that we as a society need to take care of every evil that becomes a hindrance in
providing education. Government can only implement policies; it is our responsibility to head
towards this social development.

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 1
1992 AIR 1858, 1992 SCR(3) 658

2
1993 SCC(1) 645

3
writ petition no 8028 r/w 7889 of 2019

4
Educational Statistics At a glance (2013), government of India Ministry of Human Resource Development Bureau of

Planning, monitoring and Statistics, New Delhi, table no. 16(A)

5
Geography of population concepts,determinants, and patterns by R.C. Chandha and Census of India Provisional Total 2011

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