Law and You > Constitutional Law > Right to Education (Article 21A)
A nation cannot flourish unless its population is educated, as citizens play a critical part in the country’s development. In this article, let us look into the constitutional provisions and certain amendments which resulted in the enactment of programmes and the Right to Education Act.
Education is not just about learning facts. The purposes of education are to:
- lead to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity;
- strengthen respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
- enable everyone to participate effectively in a free society; and
- promote human rights, equality and non-discrimination and peace through understanding, tolerance, respect and friendship among all nations and all ethnic or religious groups.
Since education has a significant role to play in the lives of the people, efforts at the international, national, regional, and local level, have been made to ensure that people have a right to education.
International Conventions:
India is signatory to many International Conventions.
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “everyone has the right to education which shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages”.
- The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR): Articles 13 and 14 of the ICESCR set out detailed formulation of the right to education. Article 13 contains a general statement that everyone has the right to education and that education should contribute to the full development of the human personality.
- Convention of the Right of the Child (CRC): Articles 28 and 29 of the CRC deal with the rights of the child to education. Article 29 stipulates that the education of the child shall be directed towards the development of the personality, talents and mental & physical abilities to the fullest potential.
- UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education: The UNESCO Convention stipulates that States must undertake to formulate, develop and apply a national policy which will tend to promote equality of opportunity and treatment, and in particular to make primary education free and compulsory.
- Other Charters: The right to education is recognised and guaranteed under several regional human rights instruments like African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers, etc.
India’s Approach to Right to Education:
There are many Constitutional Provisions for providing education to children.
- According to Article 45 of the Constitution of India, 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.
- According to Article 39(f) of the Constitution of India, children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment
- Article 15(3) of the Constitution of India, contains an exception to the rule given under clauses (1) and (2) of Article 15. It empowers the State to make special provisions for women and children. It states that nothing in Article 15 should prevent the State from formulating any special provision for women and children.
- According to Article 38(1) of the Constitution of India, the State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life
- According to Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India, all minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
- According to Article 29(2) of the Constitution of India, no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.
- In Unnikrishnan J P v. State of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1993 SC 2178 case, the Supreme Court held that education is a Fundamental Right flowing from Article 21.
- The first official document on the Right to Education was the Ramamurti Committee Report in 1990.
- Tapas Majumdar Committee (1999) was set up, which encompassed insertion of Article 21A.
- The 86 Constitutional Amendment in 2002, provided Right to Education as a fundamental right in Part-III of the Constitution. It provided for a follow-up legislation Right to Education Act 2009.
- According to Article 51A(k) of the Constitution of India, 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.
86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002
The 86th Amendment Act of 2002 adds three specific provisions to the Constitution to make it easier to understand that children between the ages of 6 and 14 have a fundamental right to free and compulsory education.
- The inclusion of Article 21A in Part III of the Indian Constitution states every child has the right to a full-time elementary education of appropriate and equitable quality in a formal school that complies with certain fundamental norms and criteria.
- The language of Article 45 changed as “The State shall endeavour to ensure early childhood care and free and mandatory education for all children up to the age of six,”.
- The addition of a new clause Article 51 A (k) under Part IVA (Fundamental Duties) makes it explicitly mandatory for parents to provide opportunities for their children of ages between 6 and 14 to get the opportunity of an education
Article 21A:
The 86th Amendment Act of 2002 makes the Right to Education in India a fundamental right under Article 21A. The Article lays down 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.
In order to ensure the implementation of these changes, in the year 2009, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was enacted by the Parliament, which was implemented from April. 01. 2010.
‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school which is not supported by the appropriate Government, shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education. ‘Compulsory education’ casts an obligation on the appropriate Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by all children in the 6–14 age groups. With this, India has moved forward to a rights-based framework that casts a legal obligation on the Central and State Governments to implement this fundamental child right as enshrined in Article 21A of the Constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the RTE Act.
Conclusion:
The right to education was initially not included as a fundamental right in the constitution and was included as a Directive Principle under Article 45 which required the state to endeavour to provide, with in a period of 10 years from the commencement of the constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years. During this period the Supreme Court implied the ‘Right to Education’ from other Articles of the Constitution such as Article 21, 24, 30(i), and 39(e) & (f).
The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.