Right To Education Act

Quality, cost, and equity remain key US-India education challenges

In 2021-22, there were about 1.5 million schools (grades 1-12) with 265 million students-nearly 80 per cent of the total US population

Delhi govt issues admission guidelines for children with special needs

The Delhi Directorate of Education (DoE) released guidelines for admission of children with special needs (CWSN) for entry level classes in private schools. According to a circular issued on Friday, children with benchmark disabilities are eligible to apply. The term "benchmark disability" refers to a person with not less than 40 per cent of a specified disability that needs to be certified by a government hospital as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016. Children identified with intellectual disability, specific learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, or related categories may also be considered based on assessment or diagnostic reports, the circular stated. The age criteria for special needs applicants as of March 31, 2025 should be 3-7 years for pre-school/nursery, 4-8 years for kindergarten, and 5-9 years for class 1, as per the circular. It stated that the online module for applications will open on Monday (June 2) and the last date for submissio

Delhi-NCR schools flout RTE Act, detain students in Classes 6 and 7

Several prestigious schools of Delhi-NCR have allegedly held back students in Classes 6 and 7 in violation of the Right to Education Act of 2009, education activists and parents said. The Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education notified rules regarding 'Examination and Holding Back in Certain Cases' in December 2024 after the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009 was amended in 2019. "The amended rules allow schools to detain students in Classes 5 and 8 only, that too after giving them additional opportunity for re-examination within two months from the date of declaration of results," advocate and education activist Ashok Aggarwal told PTI. "Before the amendment, there was a no detention policy till Class 8. However, the government amended the Act and made a provision for detention at 5th and 8th grade. However, many private schools are dictating their terms to parents in violation of the Act." Several parents complained that schools insist they eit

RTE Amendments 2024: Schools now allowed to fail class 5 and 8 students

RTE Amendments: Under the new rules, schools can hold year-end exams for classes 5 and 8. Students who fail will receive additional instruction and an opportunity to retake the exams after two months

Teachers on election duty violate 'right to education': Parents move HC

While the HC bench noted the contention of the parents that the poll process will impact the operations of the schools, it has asked the poll body to make a statement about it on Monday

UP asked to appoint senior IPS officer to investigate student slapping case

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint a senior IPS officer to probe the case of a school boy who was allegedly slapped by his classmates on the instruction of his teacher in Muzaffarnagar, terming the incident as "serious" A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal, while directing that the IPS officer shall file a report in the apex court, asked the state government to conduct counselling of the victim and other students, who were involved in the case, by professional counsellors. It said there is a prima facie case of failure on part of the Uttar Pradesh government in complying with the provisions of Right To Education Act, which deals with providing quality, free and compulsory education to children up to 14 years, without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or gender. The bench asked the state government to furnish a status report on implementation of the RTE Act in schools across the state in four weeks, while terming th

Education & jobs for autistics: Laws exist but is there enough compassion?

Few schools are equipped to cater to children with ASD, spawning a set of educators called 'shadow teachers'. Some parents are even home-schooling to keep their wards career ready

Best of BS Opinion: Prioritising expenditure, moving on infra agenda & more

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for Wednesday

Loss of a year in school is a lesser evil, say states & educationists

Enrolment started improving and learning outcomes started deteriorating only after RTE are nothing but myths, said Suman Bhattacharjee, director of research at the ASER

A good score, but…

Scrapping 'no detention' in schools is just the beginning

Education pangs: Despite RTE, Indian teens have dismal foundational skills

While only 5.3% are not enrolled in formal education at the age of 14 years, this number jumps sharply as the years roll by; by age 17 this percentage quadruples to 20.7% and further increases to 30

Teachable moment

Modifying the no-detention clause under RTE is a good move