RAS question
The Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009 guarantees free and compulsory education for children in which age group?
Correct answer: (D) 6 to 14 years.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 guarantees free and compulsory elementary education to children aged six to fourteen years.
Explanation
The RTE Act, 2009 is framed around the age band of six to fourteen years: the Act states that it provides free and compulsory education to all children in that age group, defines a child as a male or female child aged six to fourteen, and gives every such child the right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school until completion of elementary education. That is why 6 to 14 years is the statutory answer. The supplied Rajasthan context does not change the RTE threshold: admitting 5-year-olds to Class 1 extends access below the Act's guaranteed age band and complements early childhood care and education, but the central guarantee tested here remains six to fourteen years.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 5 to 14 years starts one year before the Act's statutory age band, which begins at six, not five.
- (B) 5 to 16 years is too wide on both ends because the Act's guarantee runs from six to fourteen years.
- (C) 6 to 16 years has the correct starting age but extends the upper limit beyond fourteen, which is not the RTE Act's stated age band.
Concept
This tests the constitutional and statutory framework for elementary education, especially the RTE Act's age coverage. It recurs in RAS because education rights, state obligations and school-access policies are core welfare-governance themes.