86th Constitutional Amendment Act 2002
Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 6 "The Parliamentary System: Legislature and Executive"; Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"
Meaning
The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 made education a fundamental right. It made three changes:
- It added Article 21A: free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14.
- It rewrote Article 45, a directive principle, so that it now covers early childhood care and education for children below six.
- It added Article 51A(k), a fundamental duty on parents and guardians to give their children aged 6-14 opportunities for education.
The amendment built on Unni Krishnan (1993), which had held that children up to 14 have a right to education under Article 21.
Example
To put Article 21A into practice, Parliament passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which came into force on 1 April 2010.
Don't confuse with
- RTE Act, 2009: an ordinary law, not an amendment. It sets out the details, such as neighbourhood schools, no capitation fees (extra payments demanded for admission) and 25% of private unaided school seats for disadvantaged children.
Related concepts
- Right against exploitation
- Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour
- Begar
- Asiad workers case
- Bonded labour
- Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976
- Prohibition of child labour
- Right to education
- Unni Krishnan case
- Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009