HRD Ministry considering proposal to extend RTE Act up to class 12

The HRD Ministry is considering a proposal to extend the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 up to class 12, according to senior officials.

The RTE Act currently applies to children between six and 14 years studying from Class 1 to 8. It requires all private schools, except for minority institutions, to reserve 25 per cent of seats for underprivileged children.

A sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), in a report submitted in 2012, when UPA was in power, recommended the extension of the RTE Act.

"A proposal regarding extension of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, is under consideration of the ministry. Any decision in this regard would be intimated, once it is examined thoroughly," a senior HRD Ministry official said in a letter to education activist Ashok Agarwal.

The letter was in response to a representation sent by Agarwal to the Ministry recommending the extension of RTE Act to class 12.

However, HRD Minister for State Satya Pal Singh had informed Parliament in March this year that there is no proposal for extending the ambit of the RTE Act, 2009 from nursery to secondary level.

"There is no proposal for extending the ambit of RTE Act, 2009 at present. However, in pursuance of the announcement in the budget this year to treat school and education holistically without segmentation from pre-nursery to class 12, the education department has prepared an Integrated Scheme on School Education," Singh had said.

The RTE Act came into effect on April 1, 2010.