ANALYSIS OF RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION ACT, 2009
Author: Rokkam Gayatri Kumari*
Editor: Shuvasmita Nanda
Introduction
Indian Parliament enacted the “Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009”. It is also known as the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The President of India gave his assent to this legislation on the 26th of August, 2009.
This legislation has a definite goal. It aims at providing free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of six to fourteen years. This goal is also enunciated under Article 21-A of the Indian Constitution.
Why do we need the Right to Education?
Education is an essential aspect of everyone’s life, transforming a person into a better human. He can know about his rights and duties. It is one of the necessities in the present world that a person should get.
A person should have qualitative education from his early childhood. It will enhance his/her skills and understanding. The literacy rate of the country will improve. He can get better employment opportunities. With this, the country’s economic growth takes place. In this manner, the country can use its vast human resources as its asset. The right to education is the fundamental right laid down in our Constitution.
Constitutional Chronology leading to the enactment of the Act:
In 1990, there came up the first official document on the Right to Education was submitted. It was by the Rama Murti Committee.
Following this, in 1993, there was a landmark judicial pronouncement of the Apex Court. It was Unni Krishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors. The Apex Court held that education is one of the fundamental rights flowing from Article 21.
Later on, the Majumdar Committee was set up in 1999. It called for the insertion of Article 21-A into the Indian Constitution.
As a result, the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act materialized in 2002. It stated that the Right to Education is a fundamental right under Part III.
This Amendment Act inserted Article 21A into the Constitution. It says the Right to Education is a fundamental right for children between six and fourteen.
The Right to Education legislation is follow-up legislation of the 86th Amendment Act.
Features of the Right to Education Act, 2009:
This legislation aims at providing primary level education to children between the age group of six and fourteen years.
The Act talks about ‘compulsory education. It shows the obligation of the Government in three aspects. They are to ensure the admission, attendance, and completion of their elementary education.
The word ‘free’ indicates that the child need not pay any charge to complete such education.
It enforces education as a fundamental Right.
The Act directs 25% reservation for disadvantaged strata of the society. The disadvantaged groups include:
People belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
People coming from socially Backward classes.
Differently abled people.
The legislation makes provisions so that a non-admitted child gets admission. He should get admission into the class appropriate to his age.
It states the sharing of specific responsibilities between the Central and State Governments. These responsibilities include financial matters.
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.” As per the Act, no student gets detained until class 8. It introduced the CCE model in 2009. CCE stands for Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation. This is to have grade-appropriate learning outcomes in schools.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019 removed the ‘No Detention’ clause.
It also bars the practice of deploying teachers for non-educational work. The exceptions are:
Decennial census;
Elections to the local authorities, state legislatures, and the Parliament of India;
Disaster relief.
It lays out the procedure for the appointment of teachers. They should have the necessary entry and educational qualifications.
It prohibits:
Corporeal punishment and mental annoyance to the child
Censoring methods for admission of children
Capitation fee
Private tutorials by teachers
Operation of schools in the absence of acknowledgment and recognition
It focuses on setting the child free of terror, trauma, and anxiety. It can happen through a wholesome organization of child-friendly and child-centered learning.
The Act is justifiable and has a grievance redressal mechanism. It permits people to take action when these legislative provisions are not complied with.
Accomplishments of the Right to Education Act, 2009:
The legislation has managed to raise the enrollment in the upper primary level education.
Stricter infrastructure norms resulted in improved school infrastructure, especially in the countryside.
More than 3.3 million students secured admission under 25% quota norms under this legislation.
It led to a type of education that is all-inclusive, comprehensive, and reachable nationwide.
Removal of the “no-detention policy” brought answerability in the system of elementary education.
The Government has launched a consolidated scheme for improvement in school education. It is Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. It incorporates three schemes of school education:
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) ;
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) ;
Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE).
Constraints of Right to Education Act, 2009:
The age bracket for which the right to education is available can be more inclusive by expanding it to 0 – 18 years.
There is no attention to the quality of learning, as shown by the number of ASER reports. Thus, RTE legislation seems like at most an input-oriented one.
There are five states which did not issue notification of 25% seats for the underprivileged children. This is a kind of reservation for them under the RTE. They are Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Telangana.
More focus is on the statistics of RTE instead of the quality of learning.
Inadequacy of teachers affects the pupil-teacher ratio mentioned by RTE. Because this, in turn, affects the quality of teaching.
Owing to constraints in implementation, it cannot compete with the private institutes. The Private convents have better infrastructure, which attracts the parents towards them. Because of this, the number of children who want to enroll in government schools gets lowered. As a result, in some places, there are no schools and no teachers.
Steps suggested:
RTE should bring under its ambit the minority religious schools.
There should be more focus laid on teacher training programs.
There ought to be more emphasis on the quality of education rather than its quantity.
The Government concerned should take appropriate steps to make the teaching profession attractive.
The entire society should be supportive of education for children without biases.
Effective implementation of the Mid-day meal scheme should take place.
There should be the proper usage of the funds given for the improvement of the infrastructure.
The authorities should make surprise visits to check the situation at the grassroots level.
The authorities must punish people who are flouting the rules laid down.
Way Forward
More than ten years have passed since the implementation of the RTE Act. However, it is prima facie evidence that it still has a long way to go for it to be successful in its purpose.
There are more than enough provisions. However, there is a lack of proper implementation of them. There will be a success in our system only upon the proper implementation of these statutes.
For the bright future of the individuals and nation as a whole, there ought to be:
Creation of a conducive atmosphere; and
Supply of adequate resources.
REFERENCES:
THE RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION ACT, 2009, Ministry of Law and Justice (13th of May 2021; 03:00 pm) https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files
Right to education, Social Justice, Drishti IAS (13th of May, 2021; 05:00 pm) https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/right-to-education
Right to Education Act (RTE)- Indian Polity Notes, BYJU’S (13th of May, 2021; 06:00 pm) https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/right-education-act-rte/
*The Author is a 4th-year law student at Army Institute of Law, Mohali
Disclaimer: The opinions and views in this article are personal and independent opinions of the author. VAIDHA doesn't hold any liability arising out of this article.
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