Art. 21A : Right to education – Indian Constitutional Law Notes – Law Tribune

The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.

According to Supreme Court, “the right to life and dignity of an individual cannot be assured unless it is accompanied by the right to education”. The right to education has also been held to be a part of Article 21 accordingly, the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted 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.

A series of decisions, including Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka, 1992, Unnikrishnan v. State of A.P., 1993, etc. culminated in converting a non-enforceable right to education in Directive Principles of State Policy into an enforceable Fundamental Right, leading to the incorporation of Article 21-A.

In Mohini Jain v State of Karnataka, The petitioner was Miss Mohini Jain who was denied admission because of high capitation fee of Rs. 4.5 L per annum is private medical college in Karnataka. The Court held that, the right to education at all level is a fundamental right under Article 212 of the Constitution and charging capitation fee for admission is illegal and amounted to denial of citizen’s right to education. However, the Court did not say up to what age a citizen has right to education guaranteed by Constitution.

The matter was raised again in the Unni Krishnan v. State of A.P., where the Court specifically held that, the right to education for the children of the age of 6 to 14 years is a fundamental right. The Court overruled the Mohini Jain case on the point that, the right to free education is available only to the children of upto 14 years.

Though the Supreme Court in Unnikrishnan case held that the right to education for children of age 6 to 14 years is a fundamental right, but even after this, there was no improvement in the situation. A demand was raised from all corners and consequently, the Government enacted Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 and introduced Article 21A.

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 a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.

Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010. The title of the RTE Act incorporates the words ‘free and compulsory’. ‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school which is not supported by the appropriate Government, 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.

‘Compulsory education’ casts an obligation on the appropriate Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by all children in the 6-14 age group.With this, India has moved forward to a rights based framework that casts a legal obligation on the Central and State Governments to implement this fundamental child right as enshrined in the Article 21A of the Constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the RTE Act.