Right to Education Act

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Provisions of RTE Act

• India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the Act came into force.
• The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21A in the Constitution to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years as a fundamental right.
• Compulsory education casts an obligation on the appropriate Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by all children in the 6-14 age group.
• It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan).
• Kids are admitted into private schools based on economic status or caste based reservations. It also prohibits all unrecognised schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. 
• The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. 
• There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.
• The RTE Act requires surveys that will monitor all neighbourhoods, identify children requiring education, and set up facilities for providing it.
• It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age appropriate class.
• It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school working days, teacher working hours.
• Education in the Indian constitution is a concurrent issue and both centre and states can legislate on the issue. The Act lays down specific responsibilities for the centre, state and local bodies for its implementation.

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