Right to education
included in editionWhat does this mean?
The State must provide free and compulsory education for children aged six to fourteen in the manner determined by law. This age-specific Fundamental Right differs from the early-childhood policy direction in Article 45.
Enforceable constitutional rights, their limits, protective exceptions and the courts' remedies.
A family seeking schooling for a ten-year-old should distinguish the constitutional age guarantee from the detailed admission rules under education law.
Why is this provision here?
It makes the specified school-age education obligation an express Fundamental Right, rather than leaving it only as a policy aspiration.
Article 21A was introduced in its present subject framework by Amendment 86 (2002), after the original Constitution. The verified sources are the official edition and the linked Amendment Act and Bill statement. Original 1946–1950 Assembly debates predate this insertion and are not presented as its direct drafting reason. The explanation of function above is editorial; the Bill statement supplies the attributed legislative reasons for the later proposal.
The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.
Limits, exceptions & reading carefully
Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.
Read the official constitutional text
Source-page notes · may concern neighbouring Articles
2 Ins. by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002, s. 2 (w.e.f. 1-4-2010).
Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.