Making RTE an accessible right

In a consequential order, the Supreme Court has issued directions to be implemented by state governments to achieve the objective of a key provision of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, providing equity for economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups.

- 

There is little doubt that the RTE, created through a landmark constitutional amendment, has remained mostly on paper for children of underprivileged backgrounds despite the passage of time. Section 12 of the law clearly states that a school should admit students from underprivileged backgrounds to 25% of seats in Class I and ensure that they get free elementary education throughout. What made the law stand out was its applicability to private schools, besides government and aided institutions, and that too in the student's neighbourhood. In practice, there are significant shortcomings in the working of the RTE Act, as a study carried out in Delhi by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the empowered agency, s