School Management Committees and the Right to Education Act 2009

Article 45 of the Indian constitution declares “The State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.” However, it was only in 2002, that the 86th amendment to the Indian constitution made free and compulsory primary education a fundamental right. The legislation envisaged by this amendment cleared its final hurdle seven years later as the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 came into force, which for the first time in India's history made primary education a legal right. The RTE Act provides a legal framework to provide free and compulsory education for all children age 6- 14. It presents a tremendous opportunity to overhaul India's education system and change the inequities that exist within it. The act is enormous in its scope, with various provisions that covers aspects of school management, curriculum, teacher qualifications, pupil- teacher ratio, physical infrastructure, as well as many other provisions regarding access, equity and quality. Moreover the Act also specifies proper mechanisms for its implementation. (Schechter, 2011)