The article is an excerpt from the judgment Anjuman Ishaat E. Taleem Trust v. The State of Maharashtra and ors. (2025 SCC Online SC 1912)
100. Section 12 of the RTE Act, which is the heart and soul of the RTE Act, is extracted hereunder:
“12. Extent of school’s responsibility for free and compulsory education.- (1) For the purposes of this Act, a school, –
(a) specified in sub-clause (i) of clause (n) of section 2 shall provide free and compulsory elementary education to all children admitted therein;
(b) specified in sub-clause (ii) of clause (n) of section 2 shall provide free and compulsory elementary education to such proportion of children admitted therein as its annual recurring aid or grants so received bears to its annual recurring expenses, subject to a minimum of twenty-five per cent.;
(c) specified in sub-clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 shall admit in class I, to the extent of at least twenty-five per cent of the strength of that class, children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood and provide free and compulsory elementary education till its completion:
Provided further that where a school specified in clause (n) of section 2 imparts pre-school education, the provisions of clauses (a) to (c) shall apply for admission to such pre-school education.
(2) The school specified in sub-clause (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 providing free and compulsory elementary education as specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall be reimbursed expenditure so incurred by it to the extent of per-child-expenditure incurred by the State, or the actual amount charged from the child, whichever is less, in such manner as may be prescribed:
Provided that such reimbursement shall not exceed per-child-expenditure incurred by a school specified in sub-clause (i) of clause (n) of section 2:
Provided further that where such school is already under obligation to provide free education to a specified number of children on account of it having received any land, building, equipment or other facilities, either free of cost or at a concessional rate, such school shall not be entitled for reimbursement to the extent of such obligation.
(3) Every school shall provide such information as may be required by the appropriate Government or the local authority, as the case may be.”
101. The mandate of Section 12(1)(c) is that schools shall reserve 25% of their seats in Class I for children belonging to the “weaker sections and disadvantaged groups from the neighbourhood“. The cost of educating these children is reimbursed by the government, thereby enabling access to quality education for those who might otherwise be excluded due to economic or social barriers.
102. Section 12(1)(c), to our mind, is perhaps the closest our nation has come to realizing the vision of an inclusive and rights-based universal elementary education. It reflects the idea of a common school system where children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds learn together under the same roof. In a country as deeply divided along class, caste, and community lines as ours, Section 12(1)(c) offers social integration through education. It seeks to dismantle the segregated nature of our schooling system and plant the seeds of egalitarian and universal learning environments.
103. It can reasonably be said that the origins of Section 12(1)(c) are rooted in a historical context of exclusion and systemic inequity insofar as access to education is concerned. The provision is a direct response to generations of marginalisation, especially of dalits, adivasis, religious minorities, and economically weaker sections, who have been pushed to the periphery of the formal schooling system. By embedding universal elementary education into the architecture of schooling, Section 12(1)(c) attempts to reimagine classrooms as shared, inclusive spaces where every child has an equal claim to dignity and opportunity. Importantly, the spirit of Section 12(1)(c) goes beyond mere admission quotas and focuses on universalisation of elementary education.
104. This was also echoed by the MHRD’s clarificatory memorandum on the provisions of the RTE(66):
[(66) Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, ‘Clarification on Provisions'< https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_document/RTE_Section_wise_rationale_rev_0.pdf > (last accessed on 31st August, 2025)]
“The idea that schooling should act as a means of social cohesion and inclusion is not new; it has been oft repeated. Inequitable and disparate schooling reinforces existing social and economic hierarchies, and promotes in the educated sections of society an indifference towards the plight of the poor.
The currently used term ‘inclusive’ education implies, as did earlier terms like ‘common’ and ‘neighbourhood’ schools, that children from different backgrounds and with varying interests and ability will achieve their highest potential if they study in a shared classroom environment. The idea of inclusive schooling is also consistent with Constitutional values and ideals, especially with the ideals of fraternity, social justice and equality of opportunity.
For children of socio-economically weaker backgrounds to feel at home in private schools, it is necessary that they form a substantial proportion or critical mass in the class they join. The relevant universe in which the proportion needs to be considered is the class/section. It is for this reason that the RTE Act provides for admission of 25% children from disadvantaged groups and weaker sections in class I only. This implies that these children cannot be pooled together in a separate section or afternoon shift. Any arrangement which segregates, or treats these children in a differentiated manner vis-a-vis the fee-paying children will be counter-productive.
The rationale for 25% lies in the fact that the composition of caste/class indicated in the Census is fairly representative of the composition of children who are seeking admission under this provision. As per Census 2001, SCs constitute 16.2%, and STs constitute 8.2% (total 24.4%) of the population. Further, the Tendulkar Committee, set up by the Planning Commission to measure poverty, has estimated the below poverty line (BPL) population to be 37.2%. It is a fact that much of the population that suffers economic deprivation also suffers from social disadvantage. Thus, taken together, the figure of 25% for admission of children from disadvantaged groups and weaker sections is considered reasonable. Any lower proportion would jeopardize the long-term goal of the policy which is to strengthen social cohesion and bring out the best human resource potential inherent in our society as a whole. A smaller proportion would serve only a token purpose, and it will run the serious risk of creating the feeling of alienation among the children belonging to disadvantaged groups and weaker sections. Their participation in classroom interaction will be neither strong nor sufficiently manifest to enrich the overall experiential learning taking place in any given subject area. Only a critical mass can play such a role.
The RTE Act provides for admission of 25% children from disadvantaged groups and weaker sections in Class I, not across the whole school. As children admitted to class I move to class II, new children will be admitted to class I, and so on till completion of 8 years of elementary education. The rationale for admission in class I only must be appreciated in human terms. Teachers who are used to a selective, homogeneous classroom environment cannot be expected to develop the required positive attitude and professional skills to deal with a diversified class overnight. The same applies to children. Children who have grown up to an age of nine or ten in a homogeneous or segregated environment have been socialized into a structure of norms and behaviour. They cannot be transformed on demand. Also, the overall school ethos cannot be expected to respond to a new policy in a positive manner all of a sudden. Education is indeed an act of faith and social engineering – but not quick-fix social engineering. In view of the fact that children take time to socialize and teachers take time to develop new attitudes and pedagogic skills, the RTE Act provides for admission of disadvantaged and poor children at the entry level, covering pre-school and Class I. With these children moving up, and a new cohort of children entering pre-school and Class I in each successive year, the school will gradually have a more diverse population spread across all classes. Progression at this pace will allow children the opportunity to grow up together and create bonds: bonds that can survive social walls. Progression at this pace can allow the school to develop the professional capacity to respond to the intellectual and emotional needs of children from diverse backgrounds. Children who are younger than eight years of age are yet to develop a stable social identity. Their values are still forming, and their motivation to derive meaning from experience, both concrete and social is very strong. Therefore, it is a valid argument that the policy of mixing children from different socio-economic strata has the best chance of succeeding if it starts from the formative years of nursery/kindergarten and Class I. Diversity enhances learning and development, while segregation impoverishes the classroom environment of all schools, private or government.
Admission of 25% children from disadvantaged groups and weaker sections in the neighbourhood is not merely to provide avenues of quality education to poor and disadvantaged children. The larger objective is to provide a common place where children sit, eat and live together for at least eight years of their lives across caste, class and gender divides in order that it narrows down such divisions in our society. The other objective is that the 75% children who have been lucky to come from better endowed families, learn through their interaction with the children from families who haven’t had similar opportunities, but are rich in knowledge systems allied to trade, craft, farming and other services, and that the pedagogic enrichment of the 75% children is provided by such intermingling. This will of course require classroom practices, teacher training, etc. to constantly bring out these pedagogic practices, rather than merely make children from these two sections sit together. The often voiced concern about how the 25% children from disadvantaged groups and weaker sections can cope in an environment where rich children exist can be resolved when the teaching learning process and teachers use these children as sources of knowledge so that their esteem and recognition goes up and they begin to be treated as equals.”
105. Section 12(1)(c) in that manner is not just about giving disadvantaged children access to private schools. It aims to build shared spaces where children from all backgrounds learn and grow together. Privileged students gain exposure to diverse life experiences, while those from weaker sections gain confidence and opportunity. For this to succeed, pedagogy must evolve-teachers must be trained to value every child as a contributor to the learning process. Only then can the classroom become a true site of equality and transformation.
106. However, following the enactment of the RTE Act, minority educational institutions raised concerns that enforcement of Section 12(1)(c) would disrupt their autonomy or institutional character and erode their constitutionally protected rights under Article 30(1). They feared that mandatory admissions under this provision could dilute their ability to preserve their distinct linguistic or religious character.
107. To recapitulate, Section 12(1)(c) being challenged before this Hon’ble Court in Society for Unaided Private Schools (supra), by a 2:1 majority, this Court upheld the constitutionality of Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act insofar as it applied to aided minority schools; however, Section 12(1)(c) was held to be ultra vires to the extent it sought to infringe the fundamental freedoms guaranteed to unaided minority schools under Article 30(1) of the Constitution. The Bench clarified that all unaided minority schools are exempt from the purview of Section 12(1)(c) while holding that the mandate under Section 12(1)(c) alters the very character of minority institutions, running contrary to the protections guaranteed under Article 30(1). The obligations under Section 12(1)(c) were held to be directory, not mandatory. Lastly, the Court held that as far as aided minority schools are concerned, Section 12(1)(c) would apply to such schools as Article 30(1) is subject to Article 29(2).
108. To address these apprehensions and prevent potential constitutional friction, the RTE Act was amended in 2012. Through this amendment, specific sub-clauses were inserted in Section 1, explicitly stating that the RTE Act shall apply subject to Articles 29 and 30. The newly added sub-clauses (4) and (5) are extracted hereunder:
“(4) Subject to the provisions of articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution, the provisions of this Act shall apply to conferment of rights on children to free and compulsory education.
(5) Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to Madrasas, Vedic Pathsalas and educational institutions primarily imparting religious instruction.”
109. While this move quelled the anxieties of minority institutions, it also opened the door to a series of new dilemmas concerning exclusion, regulatory arbitrage, and the scope of the fundamental right under Article 21A and Section 12(1)(c) vis-a-vis the rights of the minority institutions under Article 30.
110. As noted, vide a separate order, a reference was made to a Constitution Bench to examine the validity of Article 15(5), inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005, and Article 21A, inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002.
111. The said reference was answered in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust (supra), with the five-Judge Constitution Bench unanimously holding, in paragraph 56, that “the 2009 Act insofar as it applies to minority schools, aided or unaided, covered under clause (1) of Article 30 of the Constitution is ultra vires the Constitution“.
112. Thus, Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust (supra) overruled Society for Unaided Private Schools (supra) on this limited point, while affirming the remainder of the decision. While Society for Unaided Private Schools (supra) exempted unaided minority institutions from the obligations of the RTE Act, Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust (supra) went a step further by extending the exemption to even those minority schools that receive government aid. Collectively, these two judgments have placed the entire category of minority educational institutions, whether aided or unaided, beyond the purview of the requirements of the RTE Act.
113. The exemption granted to minority institutions has since become the cornerstone of constitutional debates around the balance between the right to elementary education and minority rights.
114. Against this backdrop, it is now pertinent to examine-more than a decade later since its pronouncement-the aftermath of Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust (supra) and to assess whether it has truly fulfilled the purpose it set out to achieve or whether it has, in effect, deepened the very tensions it sought to resolve.