Many Indian
states have already passed legislations to make free and compulsory education
available to children. However, enforcement has not taken place since the
legislations generally leave implementation to the local authorities as
optional. With the inclusion of education as a subject in the Concurrent List
of the Constitution since 1976, the burden of making quality education
available to all children is also required to be shared by the Centre.
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act, 2009
Background
India is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948,
which recognises the right of children to free and compulsory education.[1] The
Convention on the Rights of Child, 1986, also stresses upon the importance of education
for a brighter future of children.[2] Right
to free and compulsory education has been a part of the Directive Principles of
State Policy enshrined in the Indian Constitution since the beginning in the
form of Article 45. The Honourable
Supreme Court granted free and compulsory education (between the age of six and
fourteen years) the status of being a fundamental right in the cases of Mohini Jain versus State of Karnataka[3] and
Unnikrishnan versus State of Andhra
Pradesh.[4] Beyond that stage, the State obligation to
provide education is subject to its “limits of the economic capacity and
development.” Education was recognized as being fundamental to
live a good and dignified life. In consonance with its international
commitments and national objectives the Parliament enacted the 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002, adding Article 21-A to the Indian
Constitution which provides that every child between the age of 6 and 14 years
has the right to free and compulsory education. The Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) seeks
to give effect to this amendment. It received
Presidential assent, was notified as a law on 3rd September, 2009
and was enforced on April 1, 2010. The Act applies to schools fully or
partially owned by the Central or State Governments or schools receiving any
kind of grant from the Central or State Governments. The expenses for carrying
out the provisions of the Act have to be borne by both the Central and State
Governments. The earlier draft of the Bill as made in 2005 could not make its
place in the statute book because of severe disagreements over several of its
provisions. Most developed countries have legislated free and compulsory
education for all. UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more people
will receive education than in the whole of history thus far.
Key
Provisions
The content of
the Act is well meaning and flexible to say the least. 25% reservation is
provided for in the private schools at entry level (Class I) for disadvantaged
children.[5] They
will be reimbursed by the Government.[6]
The Act also
makes provision for no donation or capitation fee and no interview of the
parent or child for admission.[7]
Capitation fees have become a nightmare for parents in recent years. It is
becoming increasingly difficult to get one’s child admitted in a so-called good
school without paying lacs of rupees as donation. When parents will hardly be
able to afford good schooling for their children, how will they provide them
with higher education? Simultaneously, competition has become so stiff that any
number of degrees may not be enough for a student to get a decent job.
Children shall
not be denied admission in a school due to lack of age proof.[8]
This is highly relevant in villages and other rural areas where many parents
may not have the required and documented age proof ready.
The Act is
liberal in approach while allowing children to get admission in schools even in
the middle of the academic year.[9]
The education
system in India is considered pressurising and stressful as compared to other
countries. It is not an uncommon sight to see children carrying bags loaded
with books heavier than themselves. An extremely encouraging step in the Act
provides that no child shall be held back or expelled up to class VIII.[10]
Another positive
feature of the Act is that children are protected from physical and mental
harassment.[11] Though
it seems that physical punishment is extinct in the modern times, news reports
prove otherwise. Stray cases of physical harassment are reported every now and
then even in well-reputed schools. If this is the case in well-developed and
aware metropolitan cities, one shudders to think what it must be like in
villages and smaller towns where the press and media still haven’t reached.
Schools will be
given recognition under the Act only when they meet the norms prescribed in the
Schedule. The schools are obligated to meet the norms specified in the Act
within 3 years.[12]
The Act provides
that teachers must obtain the necessary academic qualifications within 5 years
or else they will lose their jobs.[13]
The Act imposes
responsibility on the appropriate Government and local authority to ensure
within six months from the date of commencement of the Act that the required
pupil-teacher ratio as stipulated in the Schedule is maintained.[14]
Training will
also be provided to the teachers and they will be forbidden from squandering
away their time in non-educational purposes other than decennial population
census, disaster relief duties or duties relating to elections.[15]
Teachers are
directed to not be engaged in private tuitions and private teaching activity.[16]
This is another welcome provision since many teachers use their position of
power over students to force them to take private tuitions.
Every child
completing elementary education shall be awarded a certificate.[17]
The Act, if
implemented properly will completely revolutionize education in India.
The National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights along with the State Commissions is the monitoring agency
under the Act.[18] The Act
also provides for the establishment of School Management Committees comprising
of parents, guardians, teachers and representatives of the local authority to
oversee the implementation of the Act.[19]
It shall be seen in the course of time whether these committees will prove to
be effective and corruption free.
[1] Article
26
[2] Article
28
[5] Section
12(1)(c)
[6] Section
12(2)
[7] Section
13 (1)
[8] Section
14(2)
[9] Section
15
[10] Section
16
[11] Section
17(1)
[12] Section
19(2)
[13] Section
23(2)
[14] Section
25(1)
[15] Section
27
[16] Section
28
[17] Section
30(2)
[18] Section
31(1)
[19] Section
21(1)
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