Key elements in Right to Education Act

NEW DELHI - Sixty-three years after independence, India Thursday enforced a historic Right to Education (RTE) act that promises freedom from illiteracy for this vast and diverse country. Following are the key points of the legislation that expects to empower the nation through education:

* Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the six to 14 age group;

* No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until completion of elementary education (up to class eight);

*A child who completes elementary education (upto Class shall be awarded a certificate

*Calls for a fixed student-teacher ratio;

* Will apply to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir;

*Provides for 25 percent reservation for economically disadvantaged communities in all private and minority schools. The reservation to start with Class One beginning 2011

*Mandates improvement in quality of education;

*School teachers will need adequate professional degree within five years or else will lose job;

*School infrastructure (where there is problem) to be improved in three years, else recognition cancelled;

*Financial burden will be shared between state and central government on the basis of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All).