RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT, 2009 (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 –Education)

Context: The Delhi High Court has ordered the merger of school IDs to better serve the objectives of the RTE Act and directed all private unaided recognized schools in Delhi to appoint a dedicated nodal officer to oversee the admission process for EWS/DG category students.

Right to Education Act, 2009

• Origin: It is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4 August 2009.
• Objective: To provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution.
• Features:

o Creating inclusive spaces for all: 25% reservation for disadvantaged groups which include SCs and STs, Socially Backward Class and differently abled. Five States namely Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Telangana have not issued notification regarding 25% seats for underprivileged children of society under the RTE.

o Compulsory and free education for all: It is obligatory for the Government to provide free and compulsory elementary education to each and every child, in a neighbourhood school within 1 km, up to class 8 in India.

o No Detention Policy: It was introduced as a part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) under the RTE in 2010.

o The EWS criteria under RTE: It is Rs 1 lakh annual income, while for those seeking reservation in higher educational institutes and government jobs, it is Rs 8 lakh per annum. 

o The RTE Act section 2 (E) empowers state to determine the income limit for EWS category for the purpose of 25% admissions in the private schools.

o As per Section 12(1)(c) of RTE Act, 2009:  All Private Unaided Recognized Schools (except Minority Schools) are under obligation to admit at least 25% of strength at the entry level (Pre-School/Nursery, Pre-primary/KG &Primary/Class-1) class(es) by children belonging to Economically Weaker Section, Disadvantaged group.

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 21: Unnikrishnan JP vs State of Andhra Pradesh & Others (1993): SC held that Education is a Fundamental right under Article 21.
• Article 21A: 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002): It inserted Article 21A which made Right to Education a fundamental right for children between 6-14 years.
• Article 45: It states that the state should provide free and compulsory education to children up to the age of 14.