LINKING PROMISES TO PRACTICES: A COMPARATIVE CRITIQUE OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN ARTICLE 21A OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Abstract

Right to education stands out in the discussions on human rights due to the fact that it can be placed in both civil-political and socio-economic groups of rights and acts as a "multiplier right" by which others can be enjoyed. Right to education experienced drastic change in the constitutional context in the shift from being an unenforceable Directive Principle of State Policy in Article 45 to a Fundamental Right in Article 21A due to the Eighty-Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of India, 2002. The paper offers a doctrinal and comparative approach towards analyzing the right to education in India by examining its place in the framework of international human rights law. The international law framework would include the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Convention on the Rights of the Child. The origin of the right in judicial decisions such as Mohini Jain, Unni Krishnan etc. and the problem of lack of proper implementation of the right, even after two decades of constitutional guarantee in relation to marginalized groups like Scheduled Castes and Tribes, girls, linguistic minorities and rural population would be discussed. The paper draws a comparison with the South African judicial precedent on Section 29 of its Constitution regarding immediate realization of basic education. This paper ends with the making of policy prescriptions that intend to transform the right to education from a mere paper right into a social justice right.