The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act gives effect to Article 21A of the Constitution, which made elementary education a fundamental right. It came into force on 1 April 2010 and makes it the legal duty of the State to ensure that every child between six and fourteen completes eight years of schooling in a neighbourhood school without paying fees or any charge that would prevent them from finishing.
For parents, the provision with the widest reach is Section 12(1)(c). Private unaided schools must keep at least a quarter of their entry level seats for children from disadvantaged groups and economically weaker sections, and the State reimburses the school at its per child expenditure or the actual fee, whichever is lower. Admissions in that quota are made by lottery rather than by testing.
Section 13 bans screening tests and capitation fees at admission, which had become routine, and attaches real fines. Section 16 originally created a no detention policy up to class eight; the 2019 amendment softened this so that states may hold a regular examination in classes five and eight and detain a child only after a re examination. Section 17 prohibits corporal punishment and mental harassment.
The Act also sets minimum standards through its Schedule, covering pupil teacher ratios, school working days, teaching hours, classrooms, drinking water, toilets and a playground, and it requires every school to have a School Management Committee with a majority of parents. Unrecognised schools operating in breach face significant daily penalties.