After over 6 decades of independence,the government has finally imposed an act to the Right to Education(RTE) namely “Right to Compulsory and Free Education Act” in primary schooling in the country for the children of age group 6 to 14 years,thereby effecting free and compulsory education for children.Of course it is a welcome step,but when I went through the whole text of the act,I found that the major emphasis and provisions are only for compulsorily bringing the children up to the school premises andpromoting them to the next standard irrespective of whether they have passed that standard or not.In nutshell,the compulsory education act per se means “school enrollment” while conveniently overlooking that the factor of compulsion has blanketed the actual meaning and purpose of education which is to bestow intellectual,cultural,spiritual and emotional knowledge to the children.

Today 73% of  Indian youth is literate yet the scope of its understanding is circumscribed within the limits decided by the formal education it receives.What our country needs today is a youthful literate population which is free of prejudice and full of bold new ideas.Today india has about 396 million youngsters and the number is expected increase to 574 million by 2020.This section of the society has always made a huge impact on the growth and development of any country and this should be no exception in india.

Government’s intention may be fair,the midday meal,or free education scheme might reduce the drop out rate in school and push up the literacy rate in rajasthan from 62 percent to a higher level,but remember this scheme applies only to the government schools.Just recall the children from SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE.They were literate but the basic instinct of knowledge and culture were lacking.

Thus “The Right to compulsory and Free education act” should convert an innocent child  into a disciplined,learned,spiritual,and a dependable youth,one who understands the “Bharatiya culture ” and that will take a proud India stride into 2020 as a superpower with a powerful army of responsible and well trained youth.