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The
Right to Education Legislation : A history
The Right to Education legislation has a long and chequered history, having
been subjected to numerous rounds of heated debate and philosophical
and semantic alterations. It was tailored into existence in the period
following the passage of the 86th Constitutional amendment in 2002,
which declared Education a fundamental right of all children in the
age-group of 6-14. A participatory process of inviting comments from
members of the public yielded several different drafts of the bill in
the subsequent years until finally, in 2008, the Union Cabinet stamped
its seal of approval on it and it was placed before the Rajya Sabha
which passed it in July 2009. The bill then proceeded to the Lok Sabha,
where it was passed in August 2009.
Please click here
to read the Azim Premji Foundation's position paper
on the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2008 and
here
to read our letter to the Standing Committee. Click here
to read Azim Premji's Memorandum to the Minister for Human Resource
Development, Shri. Kapil Sibal submitted in June, 2009.
Detailed
below is a brief account of the bill's turbulent journey and
relevant documents and articles related to it:
- In
2003, the first
draft of
the Right to Education bill was circulated for public review.
Reactions
to the draft:
A Meaningless bill on school education,
Ashok Agarwal
Centre for
Civil Society
- In
2004, the second draft
of the bill, drafted after consideration of the feedback to the first
draft, was posted on the Education Department website.
Reactions
to the draft:
The Free and Compulsory Education Bill,
2004, Uma Pradhan
- In
June 2005, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE)
committee drafted
the ‘Right to
Education Bill' and submitted to the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD).
MHRD sent it to the National Advisory Council (NAC) where Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi was the Chairperson. The NAC
sent the Bill to the Prime Minister
for his observation.
Reactions
to the draft:
A Right full of wrongs, Deepa A.
Centre
for Civil Society
Comments
of State Governments
PRS
Legislative Brief
- In July 2006, the finance committee and
planning commission rejected
the
Bill citing the lack of funds and a Model bill was sent to states for
the
making necessary arrangements. (Post-86th amendment, States had already
cited
lack of funds at State level)
Killing the bill, Vinod Raina
- The States
promptly sent the model bill back to the Centre citing lack of funds.The
bill was virtually buried for two years.
2008
- In February, the Ministry of Human Resource
Development circulated
another draft
of
the bill.
- In August, the Union Cabinet referred the Right
to
Education Bill to the Group of Ministers (GoM), a high-powered group of
ministers formed to look into operationalising the Fundamental Right to
Education.
- On October 31, the Union Cabinet cleared a
revised draft of the bill, as yet unreleased to the public. The GoM had
passed on the draft to the Cabinet earlier that month.
- On December 15, the
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha and released to the
public on the
Rajya Sabha website.
Reactions
to the bill:
Azim
Premji Foundation
Centre
for Civil Society
Clauses dilute school bill penal provisions,
The Telegraph
CII
Disabled left out of Education Bill
Misconceiving
Fundamentals, Dismantling Rights, Anil Sadgopal
PRS
Legislative Brief
Right
to Education, Vinod Raina
School education: Free private sector, Amit
Kaushik
Shiksha
Adhikar Manch, Bhopal - Petition to Standing Committee
Shiksha
Adhikar Manch, Bhopal - Proposed Amendments
Solution
Exchange - Collated responses of the
Education Community
Some
thoughts on the Right to Education Legislation, Amit Kaushik
Still
Born Legislation, Niranjanaradhya V.P.
The bill is short on transparency and
accountability, Madhav Chavan
Comparison
between the 2005 draft and 2008 bill
- The Rajya Sabha referred the bill to the
Department-related Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Human Resource Development.
2009
- On February 18, the Standing Committee
released its report
of
recommendations and placed it before both the houses of
Parliament,
which were in session at the time.
- On February 26, the Parliament ended its budget
session without passing
the bill.
- On July 20, the Rajya Sabha passed the bill with minor
changes to the 2008 draft bill.
- On August 4, the Lok Sabha passed the bill.
- On August 26, the President gave her assent to the
bill. Click here for the text of the Act.
2010
- On April 1, the Act came into force.
Articles in the Press after the bill's conversion to an Act:
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