RTE in crisis: 15 years on, free education remains a distant dream

As Maharashtra marks 15 years of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education RTE Act major challenges continue to plague its implementation Enacted on April 1 2010 the Act aimed to ensure universal education but has since faced multiple controversies and amendmentsTo address ongoing issues the Maharashtra School Education Department recently formed a sevenmember committee to review existing RTE regulations and propose necessary modifications Led by state Education Commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh the committee will analyse current rules recommend reforms and address pending school fee reimbursement cases in courtSpeaking to midday Singh said ldquoWe recently held our first meeting and are still in the early stages I have directed experts and committee members to compile a list of key issues affecting RTE implementation We have also sought feedback from stakeholders Once this is complete we will meet again next week to decide our next course of actionrdquo Despite being a landmark law Singh acknowledged gaps in qualitative implementation while stressing that Maharashtra has made progress in quantitative termsFunding delays legal battlesA major concern is the financial strain on private unaided schools due to delayed reimbursements for RTE admissions As of early 2025 the government owes over R1800 crore prompting some schools to consider charging RTE studentsmdashthreatening the Actrsquos core promise of free education Legal challenges have also emerged In July 2024 the Bombay High Court struck down a government notification exempting private schools near government or aided schools from the RTE quota declaring it unconstitutional The Supreme Court upheld this ruling in August 2024 reinforcing private unaided schoolsrsquo obligation to reserve 25 per cent of their seats for disadvantaged studentsExperts slam govtEducation activist Hemangi Joshi convener of the Right To Education Forum Maharashtra criticised the gradual dilution of RTE ldquoSince 2014 the Actrsquos implementation has weakened The BJP government favours private institutions over strengthening public education The National Education Policy NEP barely mentions RTE revealing the governmentrsquos lack of commitmentrdquo she saidJoshi also raised concerns about increasing contractual hiring of teachers arguing it compromises job security and education quality She criticised the No Detention Policy claiming it has lowered academic standards ldquoLow teacher recruitment school closures and contractual hiring are all consequences of this shiftrdquo she addedRTI activist and former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi echoed similar sentiments lamenting Indiarsquos disregard for laws like RTE ldquoCorruption and lack of enforcement plague our legal system Despite landmark laws we consistently fail in implementation Our global rankings in the Rule of Law Index and Transparency Index reflect this failurerdquo he remarkedSchools defying RTEPrasad Gokhale convenor of Marathi Shala Aapan Tikavlya Pahijet pointed out blatant RTE violations such as schools operating without recognition and denying admissions to eligible students He stressed the need to prioritise government and state board schools over private institutionsNitin Dalvi of the Maharashtra State Students Parents and Teachers Federation accused successive governments of failing to enforce RTE regulations ldquoSince 2013 no school has been fined for RTE violations Hundreds of unauthorised schools continue operating while government authorities ignore themrdquo he said Dalvi also revealed that schools withholding student results and leaving certificates over unpaid feesmdasha punishable offense under RTEmdashhave faced no penaltiesVacant seatsDespite the lawrsquos intent thousands of RTE seats remain unfilled annually In the 202324 academic year 11821 out of 94700 seats were left vacant In 202425 the number rose to 26000 exposing flaws in the admission processFollowing mounting pressure the Maharashtra State Commission for Child Rights recently directed the State Education Director to complete RTE admissions for 202526 by May 2025 and submit a reportA lsquodefeated ActrsquoRajya Sabha MP and former MoS Education Fauzia Khan lamented that RTErsquos core principles have been compromised ldquoThe UPA government introduced RTE to ensure education for all children Today even after 15 years many children remain out of school In government schools infrastructure and teaching methods have not improved and students attend primarily for midday mealsrdquo she saidKhan highlighted the failure of School Management Committees SMCs which were meant to uphold RTE at the grassroots level ldquoParents are rarely involved in decisionmaking further weakening the Actrsquos impactrdquo she saidA retired IAS officer speaking anonymously raised concerns about the Actrsquos implementation ldquoRTE was celebrated when it came into effect but implementation became the biggest hurdlemdashfrom top education offices to district officials to school management The lack of seriousness has been evident over the yearsrdquoEven after 15 years thousands of quota seats remain unfilled in the state He added ldquoParents seeking EWS quota seats still face the same challenges Many rural schools lack the required infrastructure and several schools have failed to get RTE approval The issues that existed five years after the Act remain the same today While Maharashtra has introduced effective educational changes recently if implementation issues persist they too will failrdquoRecent data supports these concerns As of February 2025 over 70000 RTE seats in Maharashtrarsquos private schools remain unclaimed despite 305152 applications for 109087 seats across 8863 schools Insufficient funding poor infrastructure and a shortage of qualified teachers continue to hinder implementation especially in rural areasAmendments to RTE Act amp RulesSince its introduction in Maharashtra in 2010 the RTE Act has undergone multiple amendments yet most schools continue to flout its 25 per cent reservation mandate for underprivileged studentsNationallevel amendmentsgtgt 2012 Exempted Madrasas Vedic Pathshalas amp religious institutionsgtgt 2017 Extended deadline for teachersrsquo qualifications to March 2019gtgt 2019 Removed the nodetention policy allowing states to hold back students in Std V amp VIIIMaharashtraspecific amendmentsgtgt January 2025 New amendments to streamline the 25 per cent admission process a committee was set up to review regulationsgtgt June 2024 Introduced mandatory exams for Std V amp VIII failing students must retake exams or repeat the year Enrolment up to Std V remains agebased but Std VIVIII now require passing Std V examsgtgt February 2024 Exempted private unaided schools from the 25 per cent quota if a governmentaided school exists within 1 km Justified as increasing RTE seats in government schools this amendment was struck down by the Bombay High Court in July 2024