The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 :

Education is the basic requirement for success of democracy and progress of the country.
Universalisation of primary and secondary education is a provision to provide free educational
opportunities to all children of the society, irrespective of their background, social status, religion, caste,
creed, sex and gender.

The right to education is a basic human right and means every child should be able to go to school and
get education. Education improves an individual’s chances in life and help them reach their full
potential. Education is key to achieving all other human rights.

In India, the 86th Constitutional Admendment (2002) provided Right to Education as a fundamental right
in Part – III of the Constitution. The same admentment inserted Article 21A which made Right to
Education a fundamental right for Children between 6 to 14 years. As per this, The Right of Children for
Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE) was passed by the Parliament of India on 4 th August
2009 and came into force on 1st April 2010, which describes the modalities of the importance of free
and compulsory education for children between the age of 6 to 14 years in India.

The Act defines ‘free’ (education) as removal of any financial barrier by the state that prevents a child
from completing eight years of schooling and, ‘compulsory’ casts an obligation on the Government and
local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education
for all children between the age of 6 to 14 years. With this, India has moved forward to a rights based
framework that casts a legal obligation on the Central and State Governments.

Some of the features of the RTE Act are :

1. The RTE aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years.
2. It enforces Education as a Fundamental Right (Article 21A)
3. The Act mandates 25% reservation for disadvantaged sections of the society where disadvantaged
groups inlcude : SCs and STs, Socially Backward Class and Differently abled.
4. It also makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age appropriate class.
5. The Act is justiciable that permits people to take action when the provisions of the Act are not
complied with.
6. It also states that sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and State
Government.
7. It lays down the norms and standards related to : Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs), Buildings and
infrastructure, School-working days, Teacher-working hours.
8. It 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.
9. It also provides for the appointment of teachers with the requisite entry and academic
qualifications.
10. It prohibits :
a) Physical Punishment and mental harassment
b) Screening procedures for admission of Children
c) Capitation fee
d) Private tution by teachers
e) Running of schools without recognition
11. The Act also provides for the formation of a School Management Committee (SMC) to promote
participatory democracy and governance in all elementary schools.
12. It focuses on a system of child friendly and child centred learning.
Since its enactment, with the collaborative efforts from both State and central, the RTE Act has achieved
success, such as;

1. The RTE Act has successfully managed to increase enrollment in the upper primary level.
2. Stricter infrastructure norms resulted in improved school infrastructure, especially in rural areas.
3. More than 3.3 million students secured admission under 25% quota norm under RTE.
4. It made education inclusive and accessible nationwide.
5. Removal of ‘no detention policy’ has brought accountability in the elementary education system.
6. The government has also launched an integrated scheme, for school education named as Samagra
Shiksha Abhiyan, which subsumes the three schemes of school education :
a) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
b) Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
c) Centally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE).

However it also faced from some limitations :

1. Age group for which Right to Education is available can be made more inclusive and encompassing
by expanding it 18 years.
2. There is no focus on quality of learning, as shown by mulitple Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER) reports, thus appearing to be mostly input oriented.
3. More focus is being given over statistics of RTE rather than quality of learning.
4. Lack of teachers affect pupil-teacher ratio mandated by RTE which in turn affects the quality of
teaching.
5. Insufficient funding hampers implementation and inadequate school infrastructure persists.
6. Regional disparities, some states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram excel while others like Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh lag.

The RTE Act has made significant progress, but the challenges persist. To bridge the gaps both the
Central and the state needs to address these challenges by increasing funding and resource allocation,
addressing teacher shortages and quality concerns, by enhancing infrastructure development and
fostering community engagement and accountability. By addressing these, India can move closer to
achieving universal quality education.