Right to education in Indian Constitution

Right to Education a Fundamental Right (Art. 21A)

The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 added a new Article 21A after Article 21 and made education for all children of the age of 6 to 14 years a fundamental right. It provides "The State shall provide free ond compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine".

It is well-known that education is a basic human right. For the success of democratic system of government, education is one of the basic elements. An educated citizen has to choose the representatives who form the government. Education gives a person human dignity who develops himself as well as contributes to the development of his country. The framers of the Constitution realising the importance of education imposed a duty on the State under Art. 45 as one of the directive policy of State to provide free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years within 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution. The object was to abolish illiteracy from the country. It was expected that the elected governments of the country would honestly implement this directive but they did not take any concrete steps to implement this directive The framers perhaps were of the view that in view of the financial condition of a new state it was not feasible to make it a fundamental right under Part III of the Constitution, but included it in Chapter IV as one of the directive principles of State Policy. The politicians of our country belied the hope of the framers of the Constitution,

Judicial Initiative. In Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka, the petitioner Miss Mohini Jain was denied admission because of high capitation fee of Rs. 4 and half lakhs per annam in private medical college in Karnataka. The Court held the right to education at all level a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and charging capitation fee for admission illegal and amounted to denial of citizens' right to education. The education in India had never been a commodity. However, the Court did not say up to what age a citizen has right to education guaranteed by Constitution.

In Unni Krishnan v. State of A.P., the Court specifically held that the right to education for the children of the age of 6 to 14 years a fundamental right. The Court did not agree with the decision of the Mohini Jain and overruled it on this point. The Court held-After 14 years of age of the children, the obligation of the State depends on the economic capacity and development. Article 21A makes it obligatory for the Government to enact a Central legislation to give effect to the constitutional amendment. The legislation will create a mechanism by which a citizen who is aggrieved that the right to education has not been fulfilled should be able to get relief by filing writ petitions in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The Parliament to give effect to the 86th

Constitution Amendment Act, 2002, passed the Right of Children to Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The Act contains seven chapters spread over 38 Sections. It provides the responsibilities of the Central and State Government, teachers, parents and community members in ensuring that all children of the age of 6 and 14 years receive free and compulsory elementary education.

In Ng. Komon v. State of Manipur, the petitioner/appellant, the Chairman of a village Komlathabi which was separated from the village of Liwachangning village. A Government school was situated at Komlathabi which part of Liwachangning village. The school building was blown away by heavy storm. The petitioner had approached the concerned authority of the State for constructing the building of the school but the authority had decided to shift the school from Komlathabi to Liwanchangning. The petitioner, therefore, filed a writ petition in the High Court for quashing the said order of the Chief Executive Officer. The respondents agreed that there were other private schools in Komlathabi and their children could get education there. The appellant said that the village had no Government School and in case it was shifted to Liwanchangning their children would be denied the right of education. The single Judge passed an order that it was up to the executive authority to decide where the school was to be located in the interest of the school going children. The Court held that shifting of school to another village would deprive school going children of the Komlathabi village of age of 6 to14 years of their fundamental rights to have free and compulsory education in Government School and is violation of the right to education under Article 21-A of the Constitution and quashed the order of the Executive Authority. The Court directed the applicant to approach the appropriate authority of the Government of Manipur by filing a representation for providing free and compulsory education to the children of Komlathabi village of age 6 to 14 years by establishing a Government Primary School within 4 weeks from that day and the authorities concerned on the receipt of the representation would decide the same in view of the observations made in the High Court order and also the fundamental rights of the children under Articles 21, 21-A and also the rights under Articles 39, 41, 42 and 51A (k) of the Constitution within 4 (four) months from the receipt of the representation by passing reasoned order.

In Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust v. Union of India, Clause (5) of Article 15 of the Constitution and Article 21-A of the Constitution do not alter basic structure or frame work of the Constitution and are constitutionally valid.