Articles
Article 21
Article 21 as the procedural Magna Carta protective
of life and liberty.
Article 21 secures two rights:
1) Right to life
2) Right to personal liberty.
Article 21A
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 the formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.
Article 14
Article 14 of the Constitution of India provides for equality before the
law or equal protection of the laws within the territory of India It states:
"The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or
the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
Article 15
A fundamental right prohibits
discrimination by the state against any citizen on grounds 'only' of religion,
caste, race, sex, and place of birth.
Article
30
Right of minorities to establish and
administer educational institutions
All
minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to
establish and administer educational institutions of their choice
In
making any law providing for the compulsory acquisition of any property of the educational institution established and administered by a minority, referred to
in clause ( 1 ), the State shall ensure that the amount fixed by or determined
under such law for the acquisition of such property is such as would not
restrict or abrogate the right guaranteed under that clause
The state shall not, in
granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational the institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority,
whether based on religion or language
Article
45
Provision
for free and compulsory education for children. 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
Article
46
Promotion
of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
other weaker sections The State shall promote with special care the educational
and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in
particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect
them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation
Article 41
The State should within the
limits of its economic capacity and development; make effective provision for
securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in case of
unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement
Article
51A
51A.
Fundamental duties
It shall be the duty of every citizen of India
(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect
its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
(b) to cherish and follow
the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
(c) to uphold and protect
the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
(d) to defend the country
and render national service when called upon to do so;
(e) to promote harmony
and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India
transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to
renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
(f) to value and preserve
the rich heritage of our composite culture;
(g) to protect and
improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife,
and to have compassion for living creatures;
(h) to develop the
scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
(i) to safeguard public
property and to abjure violence;
(j) to strive towards
excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the
nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement
Article 350A
It shall be the endeavour of every State
and of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities
for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to
children belonging to linguistic minority groups; and the President may issue
such directions to any State as he considers necessary or proper for securing
the provision of such facilities.
Article 351
Promotion of Hindi Language
It states
that-
” It shall be
the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it
so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and secure its enrichment by assimilating without
interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in
Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth
Schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary,
primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages ”
Right to Education
Act RTE Act 2009
The Right to
Education Act 2009, also known as the RTE Act 2009, was enacted by the
Parliament of India on 4 August 2009. It describes modalities of the importance
of free and compulsory education for children aged between 6-14 years in India
under Article 21 (A) of the Constitution of India.
1. Compulsory and free education for
all
It is
obligatory for the Government to provide free and compulsory elementary
education to each and every child, in a neighbourhood school within 1 km, up to
class 8 in India. No child is liable to pay fees or any other charges that may
prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education. Free
education also includes the provisions of textbooks, uniforms, stationery items
and special educational material for children with disabilities in order to
reduce the burden of school expenses.
2. The benchmark mandate
The
Right to Education Act lays down norms and standards relating to
Pupil-Teacher-Ratios (number of children per teacher), classrooms, separate
toilets for girls and boys, drinking water facility, number of school-working
days, working hours of teachers, etc. Each and every elementary school (Primary
school + Middle School) in India has to comply with these set of norms to
maintain a minimum standard set by the Right to Education Act.
3. Special provisions
for special cases
The
Right to Education Act mandates that an out of school child should be admitted
to an age-appropriate class and provided with special training to enable the
child to come up to age-appropriate learning level.
4. Quantity and
quality of teachers
The
Right to Education Act provides for rational deployment of teachers by ensuring
that the specified Pupil-Teacher-Ratio is maintained in every school with no
urban-rural imbalance whatsoever. It also mandates appointing appropriately
trained teachers i.e. teachers with the requisite entry and academic
qualifications.
5. Zero tolerance
against discrimination and harassment
The
Right to Education Act 2009 prohibits all kinds of physical punishment and
mental harassment, discrimination based on gender, caste, class and religion,
screening procedures for admission of children capitation fee, private tuition
centres, and functioning of unrecognised schools.
6. Ensuring all round
development of children
The
Right to Education Act 2009 provides for the development of the curriculum, which would
ensure the all-round development of every child. Build a child’s knowledge,
human potential and talent.
7. Improving learning
outcomes to minimise detention
The
Right to Education Act mandates that no child can be held back or expelled from
school till Class VIII. To improve the performances of children in schools, the
Right to Education Act introduced the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) the system in 2009 to ensure grade-appropriate learning outcomes in schools.
8. Monitoring compliance of RTE norms
School
Management Committees (SMCs) play a crucial role in strengthening participatory
democracy and governance in elementary education. All schools covered under the
Right to Education Act 2009 are obligated to constitute a School Management
Committee comprising of a headteacher, local elected representative, parents, community
members etc. The committees have been empowered to monitor the functioning of
schools and to prepare the school development plan.
9. Right to Education
Act is justiciable
The
Right to Education Act is justiciable and is backed by a Grievance Redressal (GR) the mechanism that allows people to take action against non-compliance of
provisions of the Right to Education Act 2009.
10. Creating inclusive
spaces for all
The
Right to Education Act 2009 mandates for all private schools to reserve 25 per
cent of their seats for children belonging to socially disadvantaged and
economically weaker sections. This provision of the Act is aimed at boosting
social inclusion to provide for a more just and equal nation.
