The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Right To Education (RTE) Act.
This means all Government and unaided private schools, barring unaided private minority schools, will have to reserve a minimum of 25 per cent of seats for economically backward students in their neighbourhood.
Admission will have to be given to these poor students without taking any fee.
On Thursday, a Bench comprising the Chief Justice Mr S.H. Kapadia and Justices Mr K.S. Radhakrishnan and Mr Swatanter Kumar ruled, by a 2:1 majority, that the provisions of the RTE Act are applicable to the Government and unaided private schools, but not unaided private minority schools.
The court interpreted the RTE Act in a “child specific” manner. According to the Act, right to education is a fundamental right of all children between 6 and 14 years of age.
In a dissenting order, Justice Mr Radhakrishnan opined that the RTE Act is not applicable to unaided private schools and minority institutions not getting Government aid/grant. The order will be applicable only from Thursday and not retrospectively (meaning, it will not impact prior admissions). Many private schools had challenged the Act, which came into force from April 1, 2010.