The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) in India

TLDR: In this paper, a case study that explored the child-centred education policy incorporated within the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), which was which enacted in India in August 2009 and came into force in April 2010, was presented.

Abstract: The Thesis constitutes a case study that explored the child-centred education policy incorporated within the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), which was which enacted in India in August 2009 and came into force in April 2010. RTE provides for ‘free and compulsory education’ for all children aged six to fourteen at primary and upper primary levels in state schools in India. The Legislation spearheads the provision of ‘free and compulsory education’ through India’s programme to universalise elementary education, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which translates as ‘Education for All Movement’ and has been operational since 2000. The research investigated how child-centred education is conceptualised within RTE and how the policy is functioning through documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with Indian teachers working at schools in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The documentary analysis showed that child-centred education is conceptualised as a means of accomplishing the policy objectives of achieving the universalisation of elementary education and of strengthening democracy in India. The findings from the interviews with the teachers indicated that the functioning of seven of the eight child-centred provisions of RTE was problematic, as was the functioning of the new ascribed role of the Indian teacher as a ‘facilitator’ within the child-centred schema. Through its findings the Thesis makes an original contribution to the emerging literature on the implementation of one of the child-centred education provisions of RTE, that of ‘Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation’. It also extends this literature by addressing the entire child-centred education policy. The research also addresses a gap in the literature on the policy aspect of the provision for child-centred education through its in-depth exploration of how child-centred education is conceptualised in the policy.