NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA CHAPTER 8 Right to Education 8.1 Education is a process of learning and gaining knowledge and it can be acquired by inculcating skills, values and beliefs in different aspects of an individual’s life. According to international human rights law, primary education shall be compulsory and free of charge for the children. In fact, international law makers have propagated that secondary and higher education should also be made progressively free of charge. Free primary education is fundamental in guaranteeing that everyone has access to education. However, in many developing countries, families often cannot afford to send their children to school, leaving millions of children of school-age deprived of education. Despite international obligations, some states keep on imposing fees to access primary education. In addition, there are often indirect costs associated with education, such as for school books, uniform or travel, that prevents children from low-income families from accessing school. 8.2 In India, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4th August, 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 years in India under Article 21-A of the Indian Constitution. India became one of the 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the Act came into force on 1st April, 2010. The Act makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 years and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from disadvantaged backgrounds (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan). Children are admitted into private schools based on economic status of caste based reservations. It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. The Act also states that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age. 8.3 The cornerstone of Right to Education (RTE) is the provision of free and compulsory primary education, though the aim is also to provide increasing access to learning opportunities at secondary, technical and higher levels. It was envisaged that under the RTE Act, teaching and learning processes would be stress-free. A programme for curricular reform was also envisaged to provide for a child friendly learning system, which is at once relevant and empowering. In ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 113