Public Policy

RTE Access to Poor Students: Cases of Four States RTE Access to Poor Students: Cases of Four States Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan January 14, 2020 Public Policy This article, second part of the series, written by B Chandrasekaran, Research Fellow-CPPR, gives details about the school admissions under the 25 per cent reservation of the RTE Act in four major states during the academic year 2019–2020 and looks at the reasons for the failure of the implementation of the provision.   B Chandrasekaran The RTE Act, 2009, was one of the landmark laws in primary education. But the implementation of the Act has been facing many challenges across the states in the country, especially the implementation of the provision for 25 per cent reservation in private and unaided schools for children belonging to economically weaker sections. This part discusses the school admissions under 25 per cent reservation of the RTE Act in four major states during the academic year 2019–2020. Click on to read the article Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of Centre for Public Policy Research https://www.cppr.in/articles/rte-access-to-poor-students-cases-of-four-states   Facebook Instagram X-twitter

RTE Access to Poor Students: Challenges Faced by the States RTE Access to Poor Students: Challenges Faced by the States Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan January 8, 2020 Public Policy   This article, first part of a series, written by B Chandrasekaran, Research Fellow, CPPR, discusses the challenges faced by some of the state governments in implementing the RTE Act and analyses how they have failed to prioritise the needs of primary education of children belonging to economically weaker sections of the society as mandated in the constitutional provision. The following parts will explore alternative ways to ensure universal access to quality primary education to poor children. RTE Act—Inputs vs Outcomes The access to basic education for all children has been a much-discussed subject for more than a century now. The nationalist liberal leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale was the first person in 1910 to envision universal access to free and compulsory primary education for all children. Since then, given the vast diversity of states in India, each has taken varied measures to provide access to primary education according to its disposable resources on priority basis, but still much need to be done. Most of the states, perhaps except Kerala, did not achieve the goal till 2009. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) was enacted on August 4, 2009 by the Indian Parliament to provide universal access to free education for children aged 6–14 years. By enacting the RTE law, India also joined the league of 135 countries to have primary education as Fundamental Rights in the constitutional provision under Article 21A as amended in 2002. RTE came into effect on April 1, 2010 with stipulations to states to have all the necessary resources in place by 2013 to achieve access to free and compulsory primary education for all children aged 6–14 years. Unlike other countries where parents are solely responsible for children’s education, India became the first country with the government being responsible for the enrolment, attendance and completion of primary education of children. Click on to read the article Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of Centre for Public Policy Research https://www.cppr.in/articles/rte-access-to-poor-students-challenges-faced-by-the-states   Facebook Instagram X-twitter