The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008 could potentially mark a watershed in the history of India. The Bill aims to strengthen our democracy through the provision of universal elementary education, in keeping with the Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002, which makes elementary education a Fundamental Right for all children in the age group of 6-14 years. This is an issue that was debated even when the Constitution was first being drafted, and although education was not included as a Fundamental Right at that stage, there was agreement even then that the success of our fledgling democracy would eventually depend on an educated populace.

A closer reading of the Bill however, makes one wonder whether it would really be capable of meeting its lofty objectives. The process of arriving at consensus decisions, so important in any democratic system, often ignores the larger objective, focusing instead on the smaller, more acceptable bits of the issue. As a result, what is finally acceptable to all parties is often an animal that tries very hard but satisfies no one completely, which indeed was the fate of the earlier version of this Bill in 2005. The present Bill unfortunately appears to be much the same.

To start with, the Bill is completely input oriented, with no reference to quality outcomes. For instance, to be a recognised institution, a school must provide a certain number of teachers based on the number of enrolled students; however, beyond specifying the so-called duties of teachers, the Bill is silent on what action should be taken if the requisite number of teachers is present but — as is sadly often the case in government schools — not teaching.

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