Theme: Right to Education

The Right to Education is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21A of the Constitution of India, 1950.(( Mohan Jain v. State of Karnataka, (1992) 3 SCC 666.)) The law guaranteeing the right to education is known as the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Every child between the age of 6 to 14 years, that belongs to disadvantaged groups including children who are differently-abled, children belonging to scheduled caste or scheduled tribes etc. as well as children belonging to all income groups shall have the right to free and compulsory education in the neighbourhood school till the completion of their elementary education which is from Class 1 to Class 8.(( Section 3(1), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.))

Parents of such children do not have to pay any fee, charges or expenses to help their children receive elementary education.(( Section 3(2) The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) Every child who is enrolled in school for elementary education will also be provided with a nutritious meal, free of charge on all days except school holidays.(( Section 3, The Mid-day Meal Rules, 2015.))

All children between the ages of 6 to 14 years can get education from schools, free of cost,  from the 1st standard (first class) till the 8th standard (eighth class).

Approach the Neighbourhood Schools

Children can attend classes in neighbourhood schools. These neighbourhood schools are schools established within a walking distance of:

• one kilometre from the child’s neighbourhood (if the child is in class I to V) and
• three kilometres (if the child is in class VI to VIII).(( Rule 6, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010.))

However, the law does not restrict the education of children to neighbourhood schools.(( The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) The child is free to enrol in any school despite the distance from the child’s neighbourhood to receive an education free of cost. However, it is important to note that a child can receive education only from those schools established, owned (e.g. state established schools like Kendriya Vidyalaya, Aarohi schools in Haryana etc.), controlled or substantially funded directly or indirectly by the government or local authority. So if a child is admitted to schools other than those given above, their parents cannot make a claim for reimbursement of expenses for the child’s education.(( Section 8, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) This, however, does not include admissions under the 25% reserved admissions for disadvantaged groups.(( Section 12(1)(c), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) The admission process for schools covered by the Right to Education varies from state to state. However, certain practices are common. For admitting a child to the school, the following are the common practices across states:

Filling Admission Forms

Parents are required to fill a form provided by the requisite state governments. These forms are available on the government portal as every state has a separate portal for admissions. Some examples are Punjab, Maharashtra etc. You can also approach neighbourhood schools to obtain the form.(( Guidelines for Parents w.r.t. Admissions in Entry Classes i.e. Nursery / KG /Class-I in Government Sarvodaya Vidyalayas for the Academic Session 2020-21, Government of Delhi NCT, available at, http://edudel.nic.in/upload/upload_2019_20/249_251_dt_27022020.pdf)) The form includes basic information like the family details, address etc. It also provides for choosing preferred schools in case of unplanned admissions. A maximum of five schools can be provided as preferences.(( Application Form For Admission In Govt./Govt. Aided School Directorate Of Education, Govt. Of Nct Of Delhi, available at, http://edudel.nic.in/upload/upload_2019_20/admission_form_28022019.PDF))

Providing Identification Documents

Certain documents are mandatory to be submitted. These documents include the child’s ID as proof of age (may entail a birth certificate, Anganwadi record, aadhar card etc.) and parents’ IDs. Forms also enlist the provision of documents such as the family’s ration card, income certificate, caste certificate as well as relevant certificates highlighting the special needs of children. Such a filled form may ordinarily be submitted to the neighbourhood school. Since certain states have made the entire process online, so the application may be carried on the government portal.

School Fees and Expenses

Children can get admission to schools without paying any fees or expenses.(( Section 3(2), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) The right to education law in India prohibits invocation of any fees prior to the admission of a child. No school is allowed to charge any capitation fee which refers to any kind of donation or payment other than the school fee.(( Section 13(1), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.))

No Screening Procedure for admission 

Moreover, schools cannot subject the child or the parents to any form of screening procedure before admission.  A screening procedure may involve any test or interview of the child or the parent for the purposes of admission to the school.(( Section 13, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.))The school should randomly select the children and employ an open lottery method for filling up vacant seats. This can be done in the form of writing the names of the children on paper slips and then randomly picking them out of a container to ensure transparency. Schools may be fined up to Rs.25,000 for the first contravention of this provision and may extend to Rs.50,000 for any subsequent contraventions.(( Section 13, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.))

The schools given below have the responsibility to make provisions for the free and compulsory elementary education of children.

Schools established, owned or controlled by the government or a local authority

Such schools have a responsibility to provide free and compulsory education to all children admitted. For example, schools run by the New Delhi Municipality Council or the Delhi Cantonment Board.

Aided schools

Aided Schools refer to privately established schools receiving full or part of their funding by the government or local authority in the form of aid or grant.(( Section 12(1)(b), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) Free and compulsory education should be provided to a minimum of 25% of the children admitted and to such proportion of children as its annual recurring aid or grants so received bears to its annual recurring expenses.

Specified category schools and unaided schools not receiving any kind of aid or grants from the government

A school belonging to a specified category refers to schools such as Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sainik Schools or other schools that have a distinct character and are specified by notification by the appropriate government. Apart from special schools even unaided schools that do not receive any grants or funds from the Government are covered under the law.(( Section 2(p), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) In such schools, children shall be admitted in class I, to the extent of 25% of the strength of the class, till the completion of elementary education. This proportion comprises children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups such as those belonging to economically weaker sections of society.(( Section 12(1)(c), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.))

The above-mentioned strength of 25% of the class also applies to pre-school education, if any of these schools provide for the same.

Minority Schools

Minority schools are schools run by members of a minority group. Minorities are religious groups other than Hindus, such as Christians, Muslims and Parsis. They are also groups in a state who don’t speak the main or official language of the state, such as Tamilians in Haryana or Gujaratis in Karnataka.

The Constitution of India allows minorities to run schools in their own way so that they can protect their culture and language. This means that minority schools don’t have to follow all the rules which apply to other schools and do not fall within the ambit of the Right to Education Act.

No child can be denied admission to a school(( Section 15, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)), irrespective of the time in the academic year in which admission is sought. Ideally, all children should be enrolled in school at the beginning of the academic session. However, schools may need to be flexible to allow admission at any time during the session.

Special Training

Children admitted after six months of the beginning of the academic session may be provided Special Training as determined by the Head Teacher of the school to enable him/her to complete studies.(( Rule 14, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010)) Special Training ensures that out-of-school children are integrated into the school system. Such support will be in the form of residential or nonresidential courses, as needed and such children will continue even beyond 14 years of age to complete elementary education

Prohibition of physical punishment and mental harassment

No child can be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment at the hands of the school authorities. Physical harassment includes causing physical harm to children by hitting, pulling their hair, slapping, hitting with any object (ruler, chalk) etc. Mental harassment includes mocking the child with regard to his/her background, caste, parental occupation or shaming the child to improve their performance. Individuals may be subjected to disciplinary action under the service rules applicable to them upon subjecting the child to the same.(( Section 17, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.))

Prohibition to expel children 

No child can be expelled from school until they have completed their elementary education.(( Section 16(4), The Right Of Children To Free And Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019.))

Each state government has specified various academic authorities that have laid down the curriculum and evaluation procedures. These could be the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) or other academic institutions of the state. For example, the Delhi SCERT and the Uttarakhand SCERT are responsible for the curriculum in their respective states. The state curriculums must, however, be prepared according to certain common principles:¹

The state curriculums and evaluation procedures must include a comprehensive and continuous evaluation of the child’s understanding of knowledge.

• It should focus on the all round development of the child in a child-friendly manner.
• As far as possible, the medium of instruction should be the child’s mother tongue.

1. Section 29(2), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. [↩]

Norms and Standards to be followed by schools

The right to education law prescribes that the Pupil-Teacher Ratio should be maintained at 30:1 for first class to fifth class and 35:1 for sixth class to eighth class.¹ It also provides that there should be(( Schedule I, Item 2, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)):

• At least one classroom for every teacher
• Separate toilets for boys and girls
• Barrier-free access
• A playground
• Safe and adequate drinking water facility for the children
• A kitchen where mid-day meals can be cooked in the school A library in each school provides newspapers, magazines and books on all subjects, including story-books.²
• A teacher also needs to have a minimum of 45 working hours per week including preparation hours.³

Creation of a School Management Committee

All schools run by the government or substantially aided by it are mandated to form a School Management Committee (SMC). The SMC comprises the elected representatives of the local authority and the parents, with ¾ of the committee composed of parents of the children, admitted in school. The SMC is devised to monitor the working of the school, prepare development plans for the school, monitor utilisation of grants for the school etc. However, the SMC for minority schools and aided schools shall perform advisory functions only. The SMC is vested with the responsibility of devising a School Development Plan, which will be the basis for plans and grants made by the respective State Government or local authorities.⁴

Provide meals to the children

The law provides that all students between the ages of six to fourteen years who enrol and attend the school studying between I to VIII classes shall be entitled to nutritious meals at no cost. ((Rule 7, Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015.))The funds for such meals shall be provided by the state government. However, implementation of the scheme and monitoring of the quality and preparation of the meal is overseen by the School Management Committee.(( Rule 3, Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015.))These meals should be provided on all days except school holidays and should be served at school.(( Rule 4, Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015))

1. Schedule I, Item 1, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. [↩]
2. Schedule I, Item 6, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. [↩]
3. Schedule I, Item 4, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. [↩]
4. Section 21 and 22, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. [↩]

If you face any grievance or you have a complaint regarding the education of a child, you can approach the following authorities:

Students/Parents/Any person

Any person, including parents, can file a complaint with:

Local Authorities 

Complaints can be made to Gram Panchayat or the Block Education Officer. The Block Education officer is in charge of the education of students within their block and also supervises the functioning of the schools.

National/State Commission for Protection of Child Rights

The National and State Commission for Protection of Child Rights works for the protection of all children in the 0 to 18 years age group. Their work includes addressing children in backward or vulnerable communities.  If you have any grievances, you can complain not only to the National Commission but also to the commissions set up in each state. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the local authority can file an appeal(( Section 32(3), The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.)) to the State Commission for Protection for Child Rights in case of grievances. The helpline numbers and email ids differ from state to state but can be found on their website.

Some immediate ways you can complain to the National Commission are:

Online

The government has an online complaint system where you can file your complaint.

Via Phone:

You can contact the following numbers:

• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights- 9868235077
• Childline India (Childline is a helpline for offences committed against children)- 1098

Via Email:

You can send an email to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights: pocsoebox-ncpcr@gov.in

Via Post/Letter/Messenger:

You can write to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights with your complaint or send a messenger to this address:

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF CHILD RIGHTS (NCPCR)

5th Floor, Chandralok Building 36, Janpath,

New Delhi-110001 India.

Courts

Complaints can also be taken to court since the Right to Education is a fundamental right for children. You should take the help of a lawyer for this.

The law provides that all students between the ages of six to fourteen years who enrol and attend the school studying between I to VIII classes shall be entitled to nutritious meals at no cost. The funds for such meals shall be provided by the state government. However, implementation of the scheme and monitoring of the quality and preparation of the meal is overseen by the School Management Committee.((  Rule 7, Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015.))These meals should be provided on all days except school holidays. The place of service for such meals is at school only.

If for any reason, the mid-day meal is not provided to the child on any day, a food security allowance consisting of food grains and money shall be paid by the State Government to every child by the 15th of next month.((  Rule 3, Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015.)) The allowance includes food grains and money. It shall be based on the number of food grains entitled to the child and the cooking cost prevailing in the state. Children who voluntarily do not consume the mid-day meal, however, shall not be entitled to such allowance.((  Rule 9, Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015.))

Read more on Frequently Asked Questions on Mid Day Meals on the Nyaaya Blog, given here.