The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) has attracted criticism on multiple grounds, including concerns over its drafting process, lack of consultation, inadequate focus on quality, and its impact on private and minority-run schools. It has also been criticised for excluding children under six years of age from its purview. Some critics argue that many of the Act's provisions simply extend existing government programmes such as the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan from the 2000s and the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of the 1990s, both of which have been criticised for inefficiency
Failure to provide uniform quality standards The Act has been criticised for institutionalising inequality by failing to ensure uniform quality standards across all schools in India. Prominent educationist
Anil Sadgopal stated: "It is a fraud on our children. It gives neither free education nor compulsory education. In fact, it only legitimises the present multi-layered, inferior-quality school education system where discrimination shall continue to prevail." Entrepreneur and author
Gurcharan Das highlighted that 54% of urban children attend private schools, with the figure growing at 3% annually. He remarked, "Even poor children are abandoning government schools. They are leaving because the teachers are not showing up."
Criticism from private schools Given the perceived inadequacies in public education—such as teacher absenteeism, infrastructure deficiencies, and allegations of politically influenced appointments—low-cost private schools argue that they offer better value for money. In some states, average monthly salaries for rural private school teachers are reportedly as low as ₹4,000, compared to significantly higher government school salaries. Supporters of private education argue that these schools serve marginalised children who face
caste-based discrimination in public schools. However, critics contend that many low-fee private schools operate without official recognition due to non-compliance with quality standards, and their fee-based nature excludes the poorest families. As such, they are often viewed as catering to a relatively better-off rural elite. In Writ Petition (Civil) No. 95 of 2010, the Society for Un-aided Private Schools, Rajasthan, along with 31 other private school associations, petitioned the
Supreme Court of India, contending that the RTE Act violated the constitutional right of private entities to manage their institutions without state interference. The petitioners specifically challenged the constitutionality of the 25% reservation mandate in unaided private schools. In September 2012, the Supreme Court declined to admit a review petition challenging the verdict.
Implementation issues and case law There is a growing body of case law surrounding RTE implementation across various states. In May 2016, for instance, Maharishi Vidya Mandir, a CBSE-affiliated school in Chetpet, Tamil Nadu, was accused of deliberately bypassing the 25% quota provision. Reports alleged that school authorities rejected applications from economically weaker families, claimed that the RTE Act "does not exist," and disqualified candidates based on lack of email addresses or falsified distance criteria to avoid compliance. In 2017, a
public interest litigation was filed in the High Courts of
Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana, seeking effective implementation of the 25% quota provision. The courts directed both state governments to take necessary action to ensure compliance.
Barriers for orphans and documentation requirements Although the RTE Act allows for the admission of children without documentation, several states have continued to insist on proof such as income certificates, caste certificates,
BPL cards, and birth certificates. These procedural requirements often pose barriers for orphaned children, who may be unable to furnish such documents despite being eligible under the Act. ==References==