Discuss the ‘Right to Education ’ and the concerns raised by it. (UPSC CSE Mains 2015- Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
In the 1993 case of Unnikrishnan vs. State of Andhra Pradesh, the Supreme Court ruled that the citizens of this country have a fundamental right to education. The said right flows from Article 21. The Supreme Court also noted that the right to education was not an absolute right and ruled that every citizen of India should have the right to free education until 14 years of age. The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 was enacted, which made the following changes:
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Part
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Amendment
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Provision
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Fundamental Rights
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Insertion of new article 21A
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Right to education: The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may by law determine.
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Directive Principles of State Policy
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Substitution of new article for article 45
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The State shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.
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Fundamental Duties
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Addition to article 51A
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‘who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or ward between the age of six and fourteen years.’
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To enforce Article 21A, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) was enacted in 2009.
Concerns w.r.t. RTE Act
- Lack of specific penalties: There are no specific penalties if the authorities fail to provide the right to elementary education.
- Intermix of responsibilities: Both the state government and the local authority have the duty to provide free and compulsory elementary education. Sharing of this duty may lead to neither government being held accountable.
- Lack of accountability of government schools: The Act provides for the right to schooling and physical infrastructure but does not guarantee that children learn. It exempts government schools from any consequences if they do not meet the specified norms.
- Issues with private reservation: The constitutional validity of reservations of seats in private schools for economically weaker sections could be challenged.
- Conflict with other rights: Minority schools are not exempt from provisions in this Act. It is possible that this will conflict with Article 30 of the Constitution, which allows minorities to set up and administer educational institutions.
- Multi-grade teaching: The Act legitimizes the practice of multi-grade teaching. The number of teachers shall be based on the number of students rather than by grade.
To ensure better implementation of the RTE Act
- Participatory and responsible management: State governments need to deepen the systems of bottom-up planning and build capacities of school management committees. Local NGOs and other organizations may also be involved in the School Management Committees.
- Focus on teacher training programme: The quality of teachers is the backbone of any teaching programme. Creating a standard training programme to train and generate quality teachers is crucial for the RTE Act to produce meaningful results.
- Vocational education: Adequate focus should be given to crafts and vocational training.
- Enhanced budget: The Central and state governments should enhance elementary education budgets to deliver commitments made in the Act.
- Giving incentives for schooling: Incentives in the form of Monetary support to parents for sending kids to school.
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