The Right to Education in India

The Importance of Enforceability of a Fundamental Right

Florian Matthey-Prakash

The first book to raise the question of the purpose of Article 21A, the only socio-economic right in the Constitution.
Argues that Article 21A's meaning is not merely political, but that it creates concrete obligations for the State.
Draws conclusions from international law as well as comparative law to identify these legal obligations.
Answers question in a way that is relevant to other socio-economic rights that are not part of the constitutional text.
Provides a unique interdisciplinary approach, dealing with constitutional law, education, and access to justice.
Offers suggestions on how implementation of the Right to Education Act may be brought forward through a bottom-up approach, rather than the top-down approach that has been receiving much more attention.
Explains why Public Interest Litigation is not sufficient to legally empower the poor, but explains how it can be powerful for policy issues.

The Right to Education in India

The Importance of Enforceability of a Fundamental Right

Florian Matthey-Prakash

Description

What does it mean for education to be a fundamental right, and how may children benefit from it? Surprisingly, even when the right to education was added to the Indian Constitution as Article 21A, this question received barely any attention. This book identifies justiciability (or, more broadly, enforceability) as the most important feature of Article 21A, meaning that children and their parents must be provided with means to effectively claim their right from the state. Otherwise, it would remain a "right" only on paper. The book highlights how lack of access to the Indian judiciary means that the constitutional promise of justiciability is unfulfilled, particularly so because the poor, who cannot afford quality private education for their children, must be the main beneficiaries of the right. It then deals with possible alternative means the state may provide for the poor to claim the benefits under Article 21A, and identifies the grievance redress mechanism created by the Right to Education Act as a potential system of enforcement. Even though this system is found to be deficient, the book concludes with an optimistic outlook, hoping that rights advocates may, in the future, focus on improving such mechanisms for legal empowerment.

The Right to Education in India

The Importance of Enforceability of a Fundamental Right

Florian Matthey-Prakash

Preface
Introduction
Chapter I: History and Current State of Elementary Education in India
Chapter II: From a Directive Principle to a Fundamental Right
Chapter III: Article 21A: Clues for Its Content in International Law and Socio-Economic Rights Adjudication in India
Chapter IV: Enforcing Rights against the State in India: The Problem of Access to Justice
Chapter V: The Grievance Redress System under the Right to Education Act
Chapter VI: Grievance Redress and the Judiciary: Enforcing the Right to Education Through "Macro and Micro-Management"
Conclusion and Outlook
Bibliography
About the Author
Index

The Right to Education in India

The Importance of Enforceability of a Fundamental Right

Florian Matthey-Prakash

Author Information

Florian Matthey-Prakash, Judge, State of Hessen, Germany

Florian Matthey-Prakash is a judge, State of Hessen, Germany. He was previously an independent researcher based in Germany with interest in comparative constitutional law, socio-economic rights, access to justice, and education.