Free and compulsory education

Also called: Right to education, RTE · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "Development"; Class 11, Ch 4 "Human Capital Formation in India"

Meaning

Free and compulsory education is the fundamental right under Article 21A of every child aged 6–14 years to go to school at no cost, with the state bound to make sure the child actually gets this education. The 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002) added this right, and the RTE Act 2009 (Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act) puts it into practice.

It matters because it turned a promise that courts could not enforce into a right that courts can enforce. It is the legal base of India's effort to build human capital (the skills, knowledge and health of people that make them productive) among poor and socially oppressed families.

Explanation

Why the state must guarantee it: market failure

Market failure is a situation where a free market, left alone, gives a bad or unfair result. Schooling is a clear case, for five reasons:

• Social benefit is bigger than private benefit.
• The private benefit is what the child gains, such as a higher salary later.
• The social benefit is what everyone else gains. An educated neighbour raises everyone's productivity.

• A private school counts only the private benefit, so the market supplies less schooling than society needs.

• The damage cannot be undone.

• Parents may find out only after some time that a school is poor.
• By then the child has already lost years of learning.

• A bad soap can be changed next week, but a lost school year cannot be recovered.

• Information asymmetry (the school knows much more than the parent does).

• Parents do not know the true quality or the true cost.
• So schools gain monopoly power (the power to set fees and quality without fear of losing students).

• They can then charge high fees for poor teaching.

• Poverty. Many families cannot afford even basic education. If the state does nothing, poverty passes to the next generation.

• Rights. If basic education is a right, the state must provide it free to deserving and socially oppressed classes.

From Directive Principle to fundamental right

• Directive Principle of State Policy (DPSP) is a guideline for the government in Part IV of the Constitution. Courts cannot enforce it.
• Fundamental right is a right in Part III of the Constitution. Courts can enforce it.
• Step 1: Article 45 (DPSP, 1950)
• It promised free and compulsory education for all children up to 14 years within 10 years.

• The deadline (1960) was missed.

• Step 2: 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002) made three changes:

• Art. 21A: free and compulsory education became a fundamental right for ages 6–14.
• Art. 45 was rewritten. It now covers early childhood care and education (ECCE) for children below 6.

• Art. 51A(k): a new Fundamental Duty of parents and guardians to give their children aged 6–14 opportunities for education.

• Step 3: RTE Act 2009 came into force on 1 April 2010.

Components of the RTE Act

• Free: the child does not pay fees to get elementary schooling.
• Compulsory: the burden falls on the state, not the child. The government must make sure the child is admitted and studies.
• 25% of seats in private unaided schools are reserved for children from economically weaker sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups.

• Worked example (illustrative): a private unaided school has 40 seats in its entry class. 25% × 40 = 10 seats must go to EWS and disadvantaged children.

• 2019 amendment: it ended the no-detention policy (automatic promotion to the next class).

• States may now hold back students in classes 5 and 8 if they fail a re-exam.

What makes the right work well or badly

• Money. A right exists only on paper without spending.

• The Tapas Majumdar Committee (1999) estimated that about ₹1.37 lakh crore over 10 years (1998-99 to 2006-07) was needed to bring all children aged 6–14 into school.

• Regulation. The state must make private schools meet standards (minimum quality, infrastructure and teacher qualifications) and charge a "correct price" (a fee that covers a fair cost, not a monopoly profit).

• Teachers. More schools need more teachers, and teachers are trained in higher-education institutions. So elementary education cannot grow if higher education is starved of funds.

In India

• Who manages it:
• Education is in the Concurrent List. The 42nd Amendment (1976) moved it there from the State List. So the union and the states share responsibility.
• Three tiers spend on it: the union, the states, and local governments (municipal corporations, municipalities and village panchayats).

• The Ministry of Education (union and states) handles policy and funding. NCERT (1961) handles school curriculum, textbooks and teacher training.

• Dedicated funding through cesses:

• Cess is a tax charged on top of a main tax for a specific purpose. Its money is earmarked (set aside) for that purpose.
• The 2% Education Cess (2004) on all union taxes went to elementary education through the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh. This is a non-lapsable fund, so unspent money does not go back to the government at the end of the year.

• The Finance Act 2018 replaced it (and the 1% Secondary and Higher Education Cess of 2007) with a 4% Health and Education Cess from 2018-19. It is charged on income tax plus surcharge [3].

• Where the money goes:

• Elementary education (classes 1–8, the RTE age band) gets the largest share of education spending.

• Combined Centre + State education spending grew at a CAGR of 12%, from ₹5.8 lakh crore (FY21) to ₹9.2 lakh crore (FY25 BE) [2]. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the average yearly growth rate with compounding. BE (Budget Estimates) are planned figures, not actual spending.

• Gaps between states: per capita public spending on elementary education in 2020-21 was:

• Sikkim: ₹96,968 (highest)
• Bihar: ₹10,710 (lowest)

• So Sikkim spends about 9 times as much as Bihar. The same right gives very unequal results in different states.

• The 6% target: the Kothari Commission (1964–66) asked for at least 6% of GDP on education. NEP 2020 repeats this target. Actual spending was 4.47% of GDP in 2020 and has never reached 6%.

• NEP 2020 link: the 5+3+3+4 structure starts at age 3, which pulls ECCE (Art. 45) and the RTE years (Art. 21A) into one path. NIPUN Bharat (2021) targets foundational literacy and numeracy (reading with understanding and doing basic maths).

Don't confuse with

• Article 45 (today): since 2002 it covers ECCE for children below 6. It is still a DPSP and courts cannot enforce it. Art. 21A covers 6–14 and is an enforceable fundamental right.
• Article 51A(k): this is a Fundamental Duty of parents and guardians. Art. 21A is a right of the child against the state. Both were added by the same 86th Amendment.
• 86th Amendment (2002) vs RTE Act 2009: the amendment created the right in the Constitution. The Act, in force from 1 April 2010, gives the details (the 25% quota, detention rules and so on).
• Private unaided vs government schools: the 25% EWS quota applies to private unaided schools. It is how the Act brings private schools into the right.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 21A was inserted by the 86th Amendment (2002). The right covers ages 6–14, not 0–14. The original Art. 45 promised education "up to 14 years within 10 years".
• The RTE Act 2009 came into force on 1 April 2010. It reserves 25% of seats in private unaided schools for EWS and disadvantaged groups.
• The 2019 amendment ended the no-detention policy. States may detain students in classes 5 and 8 after a failed re-exam.
• Trap, "which article": ECCE for children below 6 is Art. 45. The parents' duty is Art. 51A(k). The child's right is Art. 21A.
• Education moved from the State List to the Concurrent List through the 42nd Amendment (1976).
• The Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (non-lapsable) received the 2% Education Cess (2004) for elementary education. Today the 4% Health and Education Cess (from 2018-19) has replaced it [3].

Mains Points

• A right needs resources (GS-II/GS-III): Art. 21A makes schooling enforceable. But spending is still about 4% of GDP, against the 6% target set by the Kothari Commission in 1966. The per-child gap between Sikkim (₹96,968) and Bihar (₹10,710) is widest where population growth is highest. So the demographic dividend (the gain when a large share of people are of working age) is at risk. There is a case for Finance Commission transfers and centrally sponsored schemes based on need.
• Regulation versus provision: market failure (information asymmetry, damage that cannot be undone, social benefit) justifies more than funding. The state must regulate private schools (standards, fee regulation, the 25% quota) and also provide free schools of its own. The 25% quota gives poor children access to better schools. But it works only if states pay back the private schools and check that the seats are really filled.
• Access versus learning: the 2019 end of automatic promotion shows the shift from getting children into school to making sure they learn. NEP 2020's focus on foundational literacy and numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) builds on this. The earmarked cess protects the money [3]. But cess money is not shared with states from the divisible pool (the part of central taxes shared with states), which weakens fiscal federalism (the fair sharing of taxes and spending between the Centre and states) for a Concurrent List subject.

Related concepts

• Government intervention in education and health
• Education expenditure ratios
• Six per cent of GDP for education
• Expenditure per student

Read more

• Why the state must act: market failure, regulators, spending and law