HRD ministry plans extending RTE to secondary education

New Delhi: The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is planning
to extend the Right To Education (RTE) till the secondary level by
making it a part of the agenda for the next month's meeting of state
education ministers and the Central Advisory Board of Education
(CABE).

According to sources, the idea for extending the RTE is still at a
very young stage but the ministry has been keen on beginning the
process with the right intensity so that it is able to be a reality
within the next few years.

A source said that the process of implementing the RTE till upper
primary had begun in 1999. The Constitution was amended to make
education a fundamental right. However, the Right To Education could
only be implemented in the year 2010. "It's a long procedure. The work
to extend the RTE to secondary education should now begin," he said.

The CABE is the oldest advisory body on education in India. It is
expected that the Board and the state education ministers will
together set up an expert committee to look at various aspects for
extending the RTE such as finance, infrastructure and legal
requirements.

India currently has the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
programme running that promises free education at the secondary level.

RMSA will be the vehicle for extending the RTE till the secondary
level. In several European countries, the state guarantees 10 years of
free school education to every child.

The primary requirement for extending RTE to the secondary level would
be to amend the Constitution. The Article 21A which was inserted in
the Constitution as a fundamental right guarantees free and compulsory
education to children of the age group 6-14.

The second requirement for extending the RTE would be finance. It had
taken a full term of UPA-I to commit Rs.2.31 lakh crore for the RTE to
be implemented. Also, a group of ministers had debated how to organize
and utilize the resources for more than three years.

The extension of the RTE to secondary education might require less
financial resources as it would include only two more years of
schooling.