Lok Sabha Question No. 85 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-14
Subject: Right to Education
Ministry: Education
Asked by: C.N. Annadurai, Raghu Ramakrishna Raju Kanumuru, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Ganesan Selvam, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 85 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.09.2020

## Right to Education

## 85. SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI:

## Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  implementation  of  Right  to  Education  Section  12(1)  (c)  by  all  States  and  UTs  is mandatory;
- (b)  if  so,  whether  some  States  that  have  not  notified  the  policy  and  some  states  have  not commenced admissions under the policy, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c)  Whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  open  a  chain  of  schools  for  the  under  privileged children in aspirational districts of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu under RTI Act; if so, the details thereof ;
- (d) The expenditure on education as a percentage of the total expenditure, since the passage of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009, year-wise;
- (e) whether there is a financial roadmap for the implementation of the RTE Act since according to  the  Unified  District  Information  System  for  Education  2016-  17  statistics  only  12.7%  of schools are compliant and if so, the details thereof ; and
- (f)  whether  in  the  light  of  the  National  Education  Policy  whether  Government  will  give additional funding to ensure universalisation of education and implement its key recommendations i.e. extension of RTE act from 3 to 18 years and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

- (a):  The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, mandates the appropriate Government to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child of the age 6 to 14 years in a neighbourhood school. Section 12(1)(c) of RTE Act, 2009 provides for admission  of  children  belonging  to  weaker  sections  and  disadvantaged  groups  in  the  schools

specified in sub-clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 in Class I (or below) to the extent of at least 25 percent of the strength of that class.

- (b): All States and Union Territories (UTs) except the State/UT of Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have notified the disadvantaged groups and weaker sections eligible for admission under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act. Further, 17 States and UTs have started admissions in private unaided schools under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, 2009.
- (c):  Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  support  is  given  to  all  States  and  UTs  for  various  interventions including  opening/upgradation  of  schools  based  on  appraisal  of  proposals  received  from  the States and UTs and as per the norms of the scheme.
- (d) to (f): As per NEP 2020, the current public (Government - Centre and States) expenditure on education in India has been around 4.43% of GDP (Analysis of Budgeted Expenditure 2017-18) and only around 10% of the total Government spending towards education (Economic Survey 2017-18).

The  percentage of Schools with RTE compliant facilities as per UDISE 2016-17 was:

|   Girls Toilet |   Boys Toilet |   Drinking Water |   RAMP |   Boundary Wall |   Playground |   Library |
|----------------|---------------|------------------|--------|-----------------|--------------|-----------|
|          96.74 |         98.79 |            96.96 |   70.4 |           59.29 |        56.14 |     85.46 |

In  order  to  attain  the  goal  of  education  with  excellence  and  the  corresponding  multitude  of benefits to this Nation and its economy, the National Education Policy unequivocally endorses and  envisions  a  substantial  increase  in  public  investment  in  education  by  both  the  Central government and all State Governments. The Centre and the States will work together to increase the  public  investment  in  Education  sector  to  reach  6%  of  GDP  at  the  earliest.  Further,  it envisages financial support for various critical elements and components of education, such as ensuring universal access, learning resources, nutritional support, matters of student safety and well-being, adequate numbers of teachers and staff, teacher development, and support for all key initiatives towards equitable high-quality education for underprivileged and socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

***