The HRD Ministry is considering a proposal to extend the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 up to class 12, according to senior officials. The RTE Act currently applies to children between six and 14 years studying from Class 1 to 8. It requires all private schools, except for minority institutions, to reserve 25 per cent of seats for underprivileged children.
A sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), in a report submitted in 2012, when UPA was in power, recommended the extension of the RTE Act.
“A proposal regarding extension of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, is under consideration of the ministry. Any decision in this regard would be intimated, once it is examined thoroughly,” a senior HRD Ministry official said in a letter to education activist Ashok Agarwal.