Article 21A and Right to educations Act "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

The article highlights the issues with the exemption of aided and non-aided minority institutions from the Right to Education Act.

Constitutional Provisions for Right To Education:

Originally Part IV of Indian Constitution, Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of DPSP, had a provision for state funded as well as equitable and accessible education.
The first official document on the Right to Education was the Ramamurti Committee Report in 1990.
In 1993, the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in the Unnikrishnan JP vs State of Andhra Pradesh & Others held that Education is a Fundamental right flowing from Article 21.
Tapas Majumdar Committee (1999) was set up, which encompassed insertion of Article 21A.
The 86^th Constitutional Amendment in 2002, provided Right to Education as a fundamental right in Part-III of the Constitution.
It inserted Article 21A which made Right to Education a fundamental right for children between 6-14 years.
It provided for a follow-up legislation Right to Education Act 2009.

Feature of Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009:

The RTE Act aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years.
Section 12(1)(c) mandates that non-minority private unaided schools should reserve at least 25% of seats in entry-level grades for children from economically weaker and disadvantaged backgrounds.
It also makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age appropriate class.
It also states about sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and State Governments.
Education in the Indian constitution is a concurrent issue and both centre and states can legislate on the issue.
It lays down the norms and standards related to: Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs), Buildings and infrastructure, School-working days, Teacher-working hours.
It also provides for prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-educational work, other than decennial census, elections to local authority, state legislatures and parliament, and disaster relief.
It provides for the appointment of teachers with the requisite entry and academic qualifications.
It prohibits
- Physical punishment and mental harassment.
- Screening procedures for admission of children.
- Capitation fee.
- Private tuition by teachers.
- Running of schools without recognition.
It focuses on making the child free of fear, trauma and anxiety through a system of child friendly and child centred learning.

Most fundamental rights are enforceable against the state, not against private individuals.
Certain rights, however, are horizontally enforceable too, that is, they can be enforced against individuals.
The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act or RTE falls in the latter category.
The right to education was initially mentioned in Article 45 as a part of the Directive Principles.

Evolution of Article 21A::

The Supreme Court in 1992 held in Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka that the right to education was a part of the right to life recognised in Article 21.
The next year, the court in Unnikrishnan JP v. State of Andhra Pradesh held that the state was duty-bound to provide education to children up to the age of 14 within its economic capacity.
The court also acknowledged that private educational institutions, including minority institutions, would have to play a role alongside government schools.
The right to education was finally given the status of a fundamental right by the 86th constitutional amendment in the year 2002 by the addition of Article 21A in the Constitution.
The Supreme Court held in P. A. Inamdar case that there shall be no reservation in private institutions and that minority and non-minority institutions would not be treated differently.

Impact of 93rd amendment

In 2005, the Constitution was amended by the 93rd amendment to include Clause(5) to Article 15 which dealt with the fundamental right against discrimination.
The clause permitted the state to provide for advancement of “backward” classes by ensuring their admission in institutions, including private institutions.
The clause, however, excluded both aided and unaided minority educational institutions thus overruling the Supreme Court’s judgment in P.A. Inamdar case.

When the RTE Act was subsequently enacted in 2009, it did not directly discriminate between students studying in minority and non-minority institutions.
Subsequently, the provision of 25 per cent reservation in private institutions was however challenged in Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan v. Union of India where the court upheld the validity of the legislation exempting only unaided minority schools from its purview.
In response to the judgment, the RTE Act was amended in 2012 to mention that its provisions were subject to Articles 29 and 30 which protect the administrative rights of minority educational institutions.
So, the onus on private unaided schools was much higher than that on government schools, while even aided minority schools were exempt.
But the constitutional provision enabling the RTE Act, that is, Article 21, does not make any discrimination between minority and non-minority institutions.

Issues

The above provisions of RTE made it violative of Article 14 and also economically unviable for many private schools.
Not only has RTE unreasonably differentiated between minority and non-minority schools without any explicable basis, there is also no rational nexus between the object of universal education sought to be achieved by this act and the step of excluding minority schools from its purview.
Given the doctrine of harmonious construction of fundamental rights, it is unclear why the court granted complete immunity to minority institutions when several provisions of RTE would not interfere with their administrative rights.
RTE has provisions such as prevention of physical/mental cruelty towards students as well as quality checks on pedagogical and teacher standards which children studying in minority institutions should not be deprived of and to that extent be discriminated against.

Way forward

The Kerala High Court held in Sobha George v. State of Kerala that Section 16 of RTE, which forbids non-promotion till the completion of elementary education, will be applicable to minority schools as well.
The bench said that the courts must examine whether provisions such as Section 16 of RTE are statutory rights or fundamental rights expressed in a statutory form.
If the latter, then the Pramati case judgement will not be fully available to minority institutions.
The Supreme Court should take inspiration from the prudent decision delivered by the Kerala High Court and overrule its own judgment delivered in the Pramati Educational Society.

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