The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the RTE Act, 2009) came into effect since 1st April 2010, pursuant to the 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India (2002), which promises elementary education as a fundamental right. It makes legally binding on the State to ensure free and compulsory…

India has very few school psychologists and school psychology as a discipline is almost non-existent. Further, the educational system in India, which is in great flux, has many needs that could be met by school psychologists. In this article, we discuss what roles school psychology could serve if the profession continues to develop in India. To…

Attempts to make free and compulsory education accessible to Indian children began a little more than a century ago. A strong consciousness for the need of free and compulsory Primary Education in India was highly moved by enactment of the Compulsory Education Act in 1870 in England. Education has been formally recognized as a human right since…

Free and compulsory primary education remains a priority area in the international policy perspective, starting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 to the formulation of Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. Under the impact of globalization, an impressive expansion in the access to primary education has been observed in recent…

The original constitutional provision for free and compulsory education, granted under Article 45 stated that it was to be available for "all children until they complete the age of fourteen years", but it did not specify the lower age limit nor the stage of education (whether elementary or primary) that would be free and compulsory.…

This article examines the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE, 2009) in India, including its origin, the system of schools to which it gave rise, and its importance against the backdrop of the larger Indian society. This article further assesses the progress made in the implementation of the RTE, the roadblocks, and the…

It is proposed to examine whether the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act can achieve its major objective of ensuring education for all children in India. Indian parents like to enter their wards into private schools because they believe that the standard of education in the public schools is poor. The act strengthens this…

As per RTE Act 2009, all children between the age of 6 and 14 shall have the right to free and compulsory elementary education at neighborhood schools. The facilities as mentioned in the RTE Act should reach into the hands of students properly and the teachers should have a good awareness level. This article explores the awareness of RTE Act 2009…

The encounter between the pre-colonial education system in India, dominated by poor teachers and students, and the British education system, which defended and perpetuated the "English class system", created a complex and problematic relationship. This article explores this problematic relationship between poverty and education in the…

India's Parliament passed the Right to Education Act in 2009, which entitles all children 6-14 years old to at least eight years of schooling. This paper examines the cost of achieving this right to education, and asks whether India can fill the financing gap that must be filled if the right is to be realized. The paper notes the very considerable…

Research Findings: This article traces the status of child rights in India, with special attention to traditional beliefs that have shaped and sustain gender discrimination. The article examines the possibilities and limitations of the newly implemented Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 for operating as an equalizing…

In this paper, the author has attempted to analyze and assess the progress of education for all (EFA) in India from 1985/1986 to 2005/2006. A similar analysis by the same author on this subject, for the period 1950-1986, was published in this journal in 1990. During that period of 35 years the development of EFA was apparently impressive, but…

The national policies and implementation mechanisms for girls' primary and women's basic education in the following Asian countries were examined: Lao People's Democratic Republic; Nepal, Thailand; Indonesia; and India. The analysis focused on the following issues: (1) goals and progress; (2) national policies; (3) strategies (strengthening…