Right to Education

The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the Right to Education Act under Article 15(5) and 21-A of the Constitution about compulsory education to six to 14-year-olds.

Sitting in two related cases, the constitution bench of CJI RM Lodha and justices AK Patnaik, Dipak Misra, SJ Mukhopadhaya and Ibrahim Kalifulla also ruled as valid the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules 2010, reported The Hindu.

See RTE Judgment: Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust judgment.

In a second education case, the bench decided that the Karnataka government could not force non-Kannada native speakers to use Kannada as the main medium of instruction in primary schools, reported the Hindu.

See: State of Karnataka Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools judgment.

The Supreme Court struck down the challenge of private schools to the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2010, upholding its constitutional validity through a majority of chief justice SH Kapadia and Justice Swatanter Kumar.