INDIA and RTE The ray of hope.

The right to education has been universally recognised since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 (though referred to by the ILO as early as the 1920s) and has since been enshrined in various international conventions,national constitutions and development plans. However, while the vast majority of countries havesigned up to, and ratified, international conventions(such as the UN Convention on the Rights of theChild) far fewer have integrated these rights into their national constitutions or provided the legislativeand administrative frameworks to ensure that theserights are realised in practice.

Every child in the age group of 6-14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighbourhood.RTE has been a part of the directive principles of the State Policy under Article 45 of the Constitution, which is part of Chapter 4 of the Constitution. And rights in Chapter 4 are not enforceable. For the first time in the history of India we have made this right enforceable by putting it in Chapter 3 of the Constitution as Article 21. This entitles children to have the right to education enforced as a fundamental right.

Any cost that prevents a child from accessing school will be borne by the State which shall have the responsibility of enrolling the child as well as ensuring attendance and completion of 8 years of schooling. No child shall be denied admission for want of documents; no child shall be turned away if the admission cycle in the school is over and no child shall be asked to take an admission test. Children with disabilities will also be educated in the mainstream schools. All schools will have to prescribe to norms and standards laid out in the Act and no school that does not fulfill these standards within 3 years will be allowed to function. All private schools will have to apply for recognition, failing which they will be penalized to the tune of Rs 1 lakh and if they still continue to function will be liable to pay Rs 10,000 per day as fine. Norms and standards of teacher qualification and training are also being laid down by an Academic Authority. Teachers in all schools will have to subscribe to these norms within 5 years.

Still lot of hurdles like financial the implementation of the act fall short with funds of 7000 crores in the very first year.The dearth of good and qualified teachers is another concern as according to HRD ministry we are short of five lakh teachers,Infrastructure is always been a problem for education ,there will be a big challenge to bring child labourers to school. This Act has put India in the same league as U.S.A. and 130 other Nations as far as the right to education is concerned. Nothing can change overnight but there is a ray of hope. A hope that if all these hurdles and shortcomings are overcome and the loopholes removed, then this will become the road leading towards an Educated India, a Proud India.