Correct Answer - Option 4 : appropriate governments will ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education
RTE 2009 (The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or The Right to Education Act): The government on August 4, 2009, enacted and on April 1, 2010, brought into effect RTE which gave provision:
- The right of children to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary education in a neighbourhood school.
- It clarifies that ‘compulsory education’ means the obligation of the appropriate government to provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education to every child in the six to fourteen age group. ‘Free’ means that no child 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.
- It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age-appropriate class.
- It specifies the duties and responsibilities of appropriate Governments, local authority and parents in providing free and compulsory education and sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and State Governments.
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It provides for rational deployment of teachers by ensuring that the specified pupil-teacher ratio is maintained for each school, rather than just as an average for the State or District or Block, thus ensuring that there is practically no urban-rural imbalance in teacher postings. It also prohibits the deployment of teachers for non-educational work, other than the decennial census, elections to the local authority, state legislatures, parliament, and disaster relief.
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It provides for the appointment of appropriately trained teachers, i.e. teachers with the requisite training and academic qualifications.
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For children in 6-14 age group, it prohibits (i) physical punishment and mental harassment, (ii) screening procedures for admission, (iii) capitation fees, (iv) private tuition by teachers, and (v) running of schools without recognition.
- It provides for the development of curriculum in consonance with the values enshrined in the Constitution and which would ensure the all-round development of the child, building on the child’s knowledge, potentiality and talent and making the child free from fear, trauma and anxiety through a system of child-friendly and child-centred learning.
- It provides for protection and monitoring of the child’s right to free and compulsory education and redressal of grievances by the National and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights, which shall have the powers of a civil court.
Thus from the above-mentioned points, it is clear that the word ‘Compulsory’ in the ‘Right to Free and Compulsory Education 2009’ means, appropriate governments will ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education.
