Broadly speaking: CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF EDUCATION

Profile of the Author: Bhawna Pawar is a 2nd year student of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonipat. She is pursuing B.A. LL.B (Hons.). Her areas of interest include constitutional law, civil law and criminal law.

Education is the important part in life of each and every human being. Education is not only a powerful tool which helps in shaping the destiny of an individual but of the whole nation as well. It is the form of learning in which knowledge, skills and habits are transferred from one generation to other through teaching, training or research. Initially under the rule of British they didn’t gave much importance to education. It was only after the independence that it was given importance.

It was due to the efforts made by different educationalist, academicians, NGO’s and civil society groups that resulted in passing of 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002. According to the 86th Amendment Act 2002, right to education was justified under the Article 14 and 21 as a part of fundamental right guaranteed to all citizens. On 26th August, 2009, the president of India approved “Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act”. On 1st April, 2010 India became one of the 135 countries who made education a fundamental right for its citizens. This act made it necessary for everyone like parents, society, school, government, etc. to play their roles and provide free and compulsory education to all the children between the age group of 6-14 years.

86th CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACT, 2002

86th Amendment Act, 2002, made three provisions in the constitution to facilitate understanding of free and compulsory education to children among the age group of 6-14 years as a fundamental right. These are:

• Article 21A, Part III makes it a provision that every child between the age group 6-14 years has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norm and standard.
• The amendment of 2002 substituted Article 45 from previous one as, ‘The State shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.’
• Under Article 51A (fundamental duties) clause (k) was added, making parent or guardian responsible for providing opportunity for education to their children between the age group 6-14 years.

In the case, Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka[1], court held that ‘the right to education flows directly from the right to life. The right to life and the dignity of an individual cannot be assured unless it is accompanied by the right to education.’ Through this judicial decision right to education came out as a fundamental right.

In State of T.N. v. K. Shyam Sunder [2]case court held that right of a child shall not be restricted only to free and compulsory education, but should be extended to have quality education without any discrimination on the ground of their economic, social and cultural background.

In J.P. Unnikrishnan vs state of Andhra Pradesh [3] court held that every child who is deprived of the right to education can issue a writ of mandamus against the appropriate authority for the enforcement of their deprived right and further clarified the extent of the right to education that a citizen has a right to call upon the State to provide educational facilities to him within the limits of its economic capacity and development.

In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India [4], the Supreme Court held that exploitation of children must be gradually banned and other things should be developed which include education, health care, nutrient food, shelter and other means of livelihood.

RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT, 2009

Right to education is the only right which finds its place in three parts of our Constitution namely Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties.

Right to education act was enacted on 4th August 2009. The act not only mentions about the procedures of free and compulsory education but also mentions about its importance for the children of age group 6-14 years. It made right to education as a fundamental right as well as made it obligatory for the government to make sure that each and every child of age group 6-14 years gets free elementary education. This act reserves 25 percent seats in every private institution for the children of weaker sections like SC, ST, etc., . The act laid down various provisions for schools which include that any school cannot deny admission to a student, teachers in the schools should be well trained and experienced.

LIMITATION OF RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT, 2009

Only for age group 6-14 years Right to Education is made available, which is hardly sufficient for children to acquire basic skills and gain employment in this world full of competition. Education doesn’t only means to literacy but also an all-round development of the human being. So, it can be further extended to 0-18 years of age. There is no focus on quality of learning so it should be taken into consideration for betterment of children. This act don’t provide admissions for orphan children as government school provide admissions to children with some papers or documents like caste certificates, BPL cards and birth certificates. Orphan children don’t have such papers and documents so they don’t get admission in such schools so government should take this into consideration and form some rules for admission to orphan children.

CONCLUSION

Every generation looks up to the next generation with a hope that they shall build up a nation better than the present. Therefore education is a tool which empowers the future generation to work for betterment of the nation. The future generation should always be the main concern for any nation. It is now with the help of right to education that free compulsory primary education is provided to each and every child. However due to the various reasons like poverty and prejudices in the society, the efforts to develop an educational system in India with full access, equality and quality of education has not been achieved. So there must be a powerful and planned administration in education department. The first and foremost duty of the government is to make sure that the persons who are involved in bribery, corruption, biased activities are not the part of field of administration. It is possible only by the superior officers.

Lastly to quote Justice PN Bhagwati, Former Chief Justice of India, “The child is a soul with a being, a nature and capacities of its own, who must be helped to find them, to grow into their maturity, into a fullness of physical and vital energy and the utmost breadth, depth and height of its emotional, intellectual and spiritual being; otherwise there cannot be a healthy growth of the nation.”[5]

[1] Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka [1992] AIR [1858]

[2] State of T.N. v. K. Shyam Sunder AIR [2011] [8] SCC [737]

[3] J.P. Unnikrishnan vs state of Andhra Pradesh AIR [1993] SCC (1) [645]

[4] Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India AIR [1997] [10] SCC [549]

[5] Manmeet singh, “Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens” <http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1925/Right-to-Education.html#:~:text=Right%20to%20Education%20Act&text=The%20Constitution%20(Eighty%2Dsixth%20Amendment,may%2C%20by%20law%2C%20determine>accessed on 2 November 2020

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q 1: What is Right to Education?

Right to Education Act (RTE) provided free and compulsory education to children in 2009 and enforced it as a fundamental right under Article 21-A.

Q 2: What are the changes after 86th Amendment?

The 86th amendment added Article 21-A, a fundamental right which says that- ‘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’.

Article 45 earlier read as ‘The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years’ which is now substituted by the following- ‘The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.’ The amendment of 2002 also added a clause in the fundamental duties.

Article 51-A clause (k) was added- ‘(k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.’

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