New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today has said Right To Education is constitutionally valid and has made it clear that it will apply to all schools controlled by govt or local bodies. Here are some FAQs on this act.
What is the Right to Education Act? All children between the ages of 6 and 14 shall have the right to free and compulsory elementary education at a neighbourhood school. There is no direct (school fees) or indirect cost (uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meals, transportation) to be borne by the child or the parents to obtain elementary education. The government will provide schooling free-of-cost until a child's elementary education is completed.
What does this mean for schools across the country?Right to Education Act, 2009, mandates 25 per cent free seats to the poor in government aided and private unaided schools uniformly across the country. However this will not be applicable to private minority institutions that get no aid from the government. Government schools will have no quota. These schools have to admit all.
Schools will have to implement the 25% reservation at the entry level of the school. States will have to bear the cost of this.
How will the poor students be selected?
Poor students from neighbourhood areas have to be admitted, based on a lottery system.
What are problems with the Act and its implementation? Many activists feel, that exempting private minority schools from admitting poor students is the biggest drawback as many private schools will exploit this. Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO, conducted a study across 9 states last year to understand the impact of the Right to Education Act and discovered some disturbing trends.The names of a large number of students were enrolled but they were not in schools. Bodies which are to implement the Right to Education Act haven't even been set up in many states.
What happens if the RTE is not implemented by schools?The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) can review the safeguards for rights provided under this Act, investigate complaints and have the powers of a civil court in trying cases.