NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA this regard, Indian government has taken several major steps and initiatives for increasing the literacy rate in India. The comparison of data provided by the National Literacy Mission in 2001 and 2011 clearly shows that the literacy rate of the country has increased tremendously. For the year of 2011, the literacy rate was 74.04 percent which was only 64.84 percent in 2001. 8.4 Further, it has been quoted in many assessment reports that RTE Act is still a mirage in a number of places in India. There are prominent regional disparities across India in the execution of the Act. In regard with enrollment of the children, the enrollment rate has improved but learning outcomes have not shown much progress. The percentage of girls’ total enrollment in upper primary has increased from 48 percent in Financial Year (FY) (2009-10) to 49 percent in FY (201314). Also, the gender parity index (the number of females divided by the number of males enrolled in a given level) has increased from 0.93 in FY (2009-10) to 0.95 in FY 2013-14. The enrollment numbers of Children with Special Needs (CWSN) has increased to nearly twice of the number in FY (2009-10) and the annual dropout rate has considerably dropped from 9 percent in FY (2009-10) to below 5 percent in FY (2013-14). The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) in primary education has increased from 84.5 percent in FY (2005-06) to 88.08 percent in FY (2013-14) 8.5 The quality indicators reveal that most of the states have adopted the curriculum mandate under the RTE Act. In government schools, 80 percent of the teachers have the prescribed professional qualification to teach. However, average attendance of students and teachers in primary as well as upper primary schools still is an area of concern. The teacher indicator indicates the increase in the number of teachers working in government and aided schools. There has been a drop in the number of schools that do not fulfill the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) as laid down by the Act. The PTR ratio, as mentioned in the RTE Act, is meant to ensure that schools maintain smaller classrooms which will enable personal attention to each student by the teacher which would serve as the basis of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation policy. There have been significant improvements in the schools when we compare the social infrastructure indicators in FY (2013-14) to FY (2009-10). However, playground, boundary wall and kitchen sheds are still not present in many schools. There has been a significant increase in the percentage of schools that are equipped with toilets for girl students, from 59 percent in FY (2009-10) to 85 percent in FY (2013-14), but there’s still a long way to go to achieve full compliance. 8.6 As stated above, despite significant gains in increasing access to literacy rate and schooling, there are still major glitches in the implementation of the RTE by States, especially with regard to basic infrastructure requirements, such as proper classrooms, toilets and boundary walls for schools, availability of drinking water, having trained teachers in place, filling up of vacant posts of teachers and pupil-teacher ratio. There are still habitations that do not have a school within three kilometers. RTE is illusory for many children from tribal and minority communities and conflict zones. Furthermore, all States do not have the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights needed to monitor the implementation of the RTE. Much of the narrative around the RTE continues to focus on the 25% reservation of seats for children from disadvantaged backgrounds in private schools. 114 ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20