Right to Education Act
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.
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 whichmay 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.
The RTE Act provides for the :
- Right of children to free and compulsory education till
completion of elementary education in a neighbourhood
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 centred learning.
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The Right to Free and Compulsary Education Act