4.3 RIGHT TO EDUCATION VIOLATED
Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world
- Nelson Mandela
1.Children are not only the future citizens but also the future of the earth. Elders in general, and
parents and teachers in particular, owe a responsibility for taking care of the well-being and
welfare of the children. The world shall be a better or worse place to live according to how
we treat the children today. Education is an investment made by the nation in its children
for harvesting a future crop of responsible adults productive of a well functioning
Society.1In Osmania University Teachers' Assn. v. State of A.P. & Anr2, wherein it has
been held as under"....Democracy depends for its very life on a high standard of general,
vocational and professional education. Dissemination of learning with search for new
knowledge with discipline all round must be maintained at all costs."
2.Education means knowledge and Knowledge itself is power.' As rightly observed by Johan
Adams, 'the preservation of means of knowledge among the lowest ranks is of more
importance to the public than all the property of all the rich men in the country"3 An
individual cannot be assured of human dignity unless his personality is developed and the
only way to do that is to educate him. This is why the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, 1948 emphasises "Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality"4.
3.. In Maharshi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya v State Of M.P. & Ors 5The
objectives flowing from the preamble cannot be achieved and shall remain on paper unless
the people in this country are educated. The three pronged justice promised by the preamble
is only an illusion to the teaming-million who are illiterate. It is only is the education which
equips a citizen to participate in achieving the objectives enshrined in the preamble. The
preamble further assures the dignity of the individual. The Constitution seeks to achieve this
object by guaranteeing fundamental rights to each individual which he can enforce through
court of law if necessary. The directive principles in Part IV of the Constitution are also
with the same objective. The dignity of man is inviolable. It is the duty of the State to
respect and protect the same. It is primarilty the education which brings-forth the dignity of
a man
4.In the landmark case of Mohini Jain V State of Karnataka and others6 Justice Kuldip
Singh held that “Right to life is the compendious expression for all those rights which the
Courts must enforce because they are basic to the dignified enjoyment of life. It extends to
the full range of conduct which the individual is free to pursue. The right to education flows
1 Rohit Singhal & Ors. v. Principal, Jawahar N. Vidyalaya & Ors., AIR 2003 SC 2088
2 ., AIR 1987 SC 2034
3 http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1925/Right-to-Education.html
4 State of Orissa v. Mamta Mohanty, (2011) 3 SCC 436
5 AIR 2015 SC 326
6 (1992) 3 SCC 666
