The Basis of Right to Education in India

Prior to India’s independence, education was generally considered a privilege rather than a right. The diarchy system introduced by the British just before independence resulted in education coming under the charge of the provincial (state) authorities from wherein start the need for a uniform national policies on education. 

After independence, the State’s obligation to provide education was constitutionally recognized with the inclusion of a directive principle to this effect under Article 45 in the Indian Constitution as a directive principles. It must be noted that directive principles, unlike fundamental Rights, are not legally enforceable, however, Article 45 come with a time limit that it should be implemented within 10 years!  

Interestingly, the concept of free and compulsory education was adapted from the British law of Free and Compulsory Education (FCE) and was incorporated into the Constitution so that education can be universalized across the country. As per the mandate in the article when it was adopted, education was to be universalized within 10 years, i.e. by 1960.  However, the State and Union budgets continuously treated education as a peripheral subject until the Kothari Commission (1966) changed the outlook drastically.

Since independence, the government have set-up various educational commissions, two national policies, and numerous reforms through programs to universalize education India while education remain under the directive principles, and not a fundamental right. 

It took more than 40 years since the adoption of the constitution for education to be acknowledged as a critical fundamental rights in India when the Indian Supreme Court ruled as such in a few legal cases in the early 1990s. After that, it took the government of India another 10 years to enact the 86^th Amendment to insert Article 21A to the constitution in 2002 to make education a fundamental right as ruled by the Supreme Court. And it took the government 8 years to draft a central legislation that would lay down the practical framework for the implementation for the Right to Education until its final enactment in 2009.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill (2008) was passed in both the Houses of Parliament in 2009.  The law received the President's assent in August 2009 and it comes into effect in 1^st April 2010. 

The passing of the RTE Act that guaranteed education as a fundamental right was indeed a historical moment for India, but it also come with the acute awareness that it limited universal education only to those children in the age group of 6 to 14 years of age. India still has a long way to go to universalize education for all its citizens.

Despite its limitation, the importance of the RTE cannot be overemphasized. It provides a justiciable legal framework, guaranteed education of reasonable quality based on equity and non-discrimination. It provides for a free and compulsory admission, attendance, and completion of elementary education. It also provides for an education that is free from fear, stress and anxiety.