Right to Education

• The RTE Act aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years.
• It enforces Education as a Fundamental Right (Article 21).
• The act mandates 25% reservation for disadvantaged sectionsof the society where disadvantaged groups include:
  • SCs and STs
  • Socially Backward Class
  • Differently abled
• It also makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age-appropriate class.
• It also states that sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and State Governments.
• It lays down the norms and standards related to:
  • Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs)
  • Buildings and infrastructure
  • School-working days
  • Teacher-working hours.
• It had a clause for “No Detention Policy”which has been removed under The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019.
• 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 the appointment of teachers with the requisite entry and academic qualifications.
• It prohibits
  • Physical punishment and mental harassment
  • Screening procedures for admission of children
  • Capitation fee
  • Private tuition by teachers
  • Running of schools without recognition
• It focuses on making the child free of fear, trauma and anxiety through a system of child friendly and child centred learning.

With the passing of the Right to Education Act, India has moved to a rights-based approach towards implementing education for all. This Act casts a legal obligation on the state and central governments to execute the fundamental rights of a child (as per Article 21 A of the Constitution).

• The Act lays down specific standards for the student-teacher ratio, which is a very important concept in providing quality education.
• It also talks about providing separate toilet facilities for girls and boys, having adequate standards for classroom conditions, drinking water facilities, etc.
• The stress on avoiding the urban-rural imbalance in teachers’ posting is important as there is a big gap in the quality and numbers regarding education in the villages compared to the urban areas in the country.
• The Act provides for zero tolerance against the harassment and discrimination of children. The prohibition of screening procedures for admission ensures that there would be no discrimination of children on the basis of caste, religion, gender, etc.
• The Act also mandates that no kid is detained until class 8.It introduced the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system in 2009 to have grade-appropriate learning outcomes in schools.
• The Act also provides for the formation of a School Management Committee (SMC) in every school in order to promote participatory democracy and governance in all elementary schools. These committees have the authority to monitor the school’s functioning and prepare developmental plans for it.
• The Act is justiciable and has a Grievance Redressal mechanism that permits people to take action when the provisions of the Act are not complied with.
• The RTE Act mandates for all private schools to reserve 25 per cent of their seats for children from socially disadvantaged and economically backward sections. This move is intended to boost social inclusion and pave the way for a more just and equal country.
  • This provision is included in Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act. All schools (private, unaided, aided or special category) must reserve 25% of their seats at the entry-level for students from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups.
  • When the rough version of the Act was drafted in 2005, there was a lot of outcry in the country against this large percentage of seats being reserved for the underprivileged. However, the framers of the draft stood their ground and were able to justify the 25% reservation in private schools.
  • This provision is a far-reaching move and perhaps the most important step in so far as inclusive educationis concerned.
  • This provision seeks to achieve social integration.
  • The loss incurred by the schools as a result of this would be reimbursed by the central government.
• The Act has increased enrolment in the upper primary level (Class 6-8) between 2009 and 2016 by 19.4%.

In rural areas, in 2016, only 3.3% of children in the 6 – 14 years bracket were out of school.

• The RTE Act has successfully managed to increase enrolment in the upper primary level (Class 6-8).
• Stricter infrastructure norms resulted in improved school infrastructure, especially in rural areas.
• More than 3.3 million students secured admission under 25% quota norm under RTE.
• It made education inclusive and accessible nationwide.
• Removal of “no detention policy” has brought accountability in the elementary education system.
• The Government has also launched an integrated scheme, for school education named as Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan,which subsumes the three schemes of school education:
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
  • Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
  • Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE).

• Age group for which Right to Education is available ranges from 6 – 14 years of age only, which can be made more inclusive and encompassing by expanding it to 0 – 18 years.
• Children below 6 years are not covered under the Act.
• Many of the schemes under the Act have been compared to the previous schemes on education such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and have been plagued with corruption charges and inefficiency.
• At the time of admissions, many documents such as birth certificate, BPL certificate, etc. are required. This move seems to have left out orphans from being beneficiaries of the Act.
• There have been implementational hurdles in the 25% reservation of seats for EWS and others in private schools. Some of the challenges in this regard are discriminatory behaviour towards parents and difficulties experienced by students to fit in with a different socio-cultural milieu.
• Regarding the ‘no detention’ policy till class 8, an amendment to the Act in 2019, introduced regular annual exams in classes 5 and 8.
  • In case a student fails in the annual exam, he/she is given extra training and made to appear for a re-exam. If this re-exam is not passed, the student can be detained in the class.
  • This amendment was made after many states complained that without regular exams, the learning levels of children could not be evaluated effectively.
  • The states which were against this amendment were six states with higher learning outcomes due to their effective implementation of the CCE system as mandated in the Act. (The six states were Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Telangana and Maharashtra.)
• It has been found that many states find it difficult to move to the CCE system of assessment. This is chiefly due to a lack of teachers’ training and orientation.
• Another criticism levelled against the Act is that instead of increasing the standards and outcomes of the public education system in India, it passes the buck to private schools with some respect.
• There is no focus on quality of learning, as shown by multiple ASER reports,thus RTE Act appears to be mostly input oriented.
• Five States namely Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Telangana have not even issued notification regarding 25% seats for underprivileged children of society under the RTE.
• More focus is being given over statistics of RTE rather than quality of learning.
• Lack of teachers affect pupil-teacher ratio mandated by RTE which in turn affects the quality of teaching.

• Minority Religious Schools need to be brought under the RTE.
• More focus on teacher training programs.
• Quality of education needs to be emphasized over quantity of education.
• Steps should be taken to make the teaching profession attractive.
• Society as a whole needs to be supportive of education for children without biases.

It has been twelve years since the implementation of RTE Act, but it can be seen that it still has a long way to go to be called successful in its purpose. Creation of a conducive atmosphere and supply of resources would pave the way for a better future for individuals as well as the nation as a whole.