RAS question
The Right to Education Act (RTE) guarantees free education in Rajasthan for children aged:
Correct answer: (A) 6-14 years.
The Right to Education Act guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 years.
Explanation
The age band is 6 to 14 years because the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 is framed around that exact group. The Act describes its purpose as providing free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years. Its definition of "child" also uses the same age range, and Section 3 states that every child aged six to fourteen has the right to free and compulsory education until completion of elementary education. For a Rajasthan RAS question, the key is therefore the statutory age limit, not a broader school-going age range.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) 3-12 years is wrong because the Act's guarantee begins at age six and continues up to fourteen, so this option starts too early and ends too early.
- (C) 6-18 years is wrong because it keeps the correct starting age but extends the guarantee beyond the Act's stated upper limit of fourteen.
- (D) 5-16 years is wrong because the Act defines the covered child as being from six to fourteen years, not from five to sixteen.
Concept
This tests the constitutional and statutory framework of free and compulsory elementary education, especially the age bracket attached to Article 21A and the RTE Act. RAS repeats such items because public-administration questions often hinge on exact eligibility limits in education law.