R.1 Short title and commencement.--

       (1) These Rules may be called the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules. 2010.
       (2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

R.2 Definitions.--

       (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires.-
       (a) "Act" means the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (35 of 2009);
       (b) "anganwadi" means an Anganwadi Centre established under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India;
       (c) "appointed date" means the date on which the Act comes into force, as notified in the Official Gazette;
       (d) "appropriate Government", unless otherwise specified, means Government of a Union territory (without State Legislature);
       (e) "District Education Officer" means an Officer of the appropriate Government in charge for elementary education in a district;
 &nb

R.3 Composition and functions of the School Management Committee.--

       (1) A School Management Committee (hereinafter in this rule referred to as the said Committee) shall be constituted in every school, other than an unaided school, within six months of the appointed date, and reconstituted every two years.
       (2) Seventy five percent, of the strength of the said Committee shall be from amongst parents or guardians of children.
       (3) The remaining twenty five percent, of the strength of the said Committee shall be from amongst the following persons, namely :-
       (a) one third members from amongst the elected members of the local authority, to be decided by the local authority;
       (b) one third members from amongst teachers from the school, to be decided by the teachers of the school;
       

R.4 Preparation of School Development Plan.--

       (1) The School Management Committee shall prepare a School Development Plan at least three months before the end of the financial year in which it is first constituted under the Act.
       (2) The School Development Plan shall be a three year plan comprising three annual sub plans.
       (3) The School Development Plan, shall contain the following details, namely: -
       (a) estimates of class-wise enrolment for each year;
       (b) requirement of the number of additional teachers, including Head Teachers, subject teachers and part time instructors, separately for Classes I to V and for classes VI to VIII, calculated with reference to the norms specified in the Schedule;
       (c) physical requirement of additional infrastructure and

R.5 Special Training.--

       (1) The School Management Committee of a school owned and managed by the appropriate Government or local authority shall identify children requiring special training and organise such training in the following manner, namely: -
       (a) the special training shall be based on specially designed, age appropriate learning material, approved by the academic authority specified in sub-section (1) of section 29;
       (b) the said training shall be provided in classes held on the premises of the school, or in classes organised in safe residential facilities;
       (c) the said training shall be provided by teachers working in the school, or by teachers specially appointed for the purpose;
       (d) the duration of the said training shall be for a minimum period of three months

R.6 Area or limits of neighbourhood.--

       (1) The area or limits of neighbourhood within which a school has to be established by the appropriate Government or the local authority shall be,
       (a) in respect of children in classes from I to V, a school shall be established within a walking distance of one km of the neighbourhood;
       (b) in respect of children in classes from VI to VIII, a school shall be established within a walking distance of three km of the neighbourhood:
       (2) Wherever required, the appropriate Government or the local authority shall upgrade existing schools with classes from I to V to include classes from VI to VIII and in respect of schools which start from class VI onwards, the appropriate Government or the local authority shall endeavour to add classes from I to V, wherever required.
     &

R.7 Financial Responsibility of the Central Government.--

       (1) The Central Government shall prepare annual estimates of capital and recurring expenditure for carrying out the provisions of the Act, for a period of five years, within one month of the appointed date, which may be reviewed for every three years.
       (2) In order to implement the provisions of the Act, the Central Government shall, within a period of six months of the appointed date, ensure that its programmes for elementary education are in conformity with the provisions of the Act.
       (3) The Central Government shall, within a period of six months from the appointed date, hold consultation with the State Governments and determine the percentage of expenditure which it shall provide to the State Governments as grants-in-aid of revenues for implementation of the Act,
       (4) Within one month of the

R.8 Academic responsibility of the Central Government.--

       (1) The Central Government shall notify an academic authority within one month of the appointed date for development of the framework of national curriculum.
       (2) The Central Government shall, in consultation with the State Governments, and such other academic authorities it may consider necessary, prepare a Scheme(s) for enabling the State Governments and Union Territories to provide pre-service and in-service training of teachers in respect of schools specified in sub-clauses (i) to (iii) of clause (n) of section 2 of the Act, including a monitoring mechanism in accordance with the standards of training.

R.9 Responsibilities of the appropriate Government and local authority.--

       (1) A child attending a school of the appropriate Government or local authority referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause (n) of section 2, a child attending a school referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (n) of section 2 in accordance with clause (b) of sub section (1) of section 12, and a child attending a school referred to in sub-clause (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 in accordance with clause (c) of sub section (1) of section 12 shall be entitled to free education as provided for in sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Act, and in particular to free text books, writing materials and uniforms:
       Provided that a child with disability shall be entitled also for free special learning and support material.
       Explanation : For the purposes of sub-rule (1), it may be stated that in respect of the child admitted in accordance with cla

R.10 Maintenance of records of children by the local authority.--

       (1) The local authority shall maintain a record of all children in its jurisdiction, through a household survey, from their birth till they attain the age of 14 years.
       (2) The record, referred to in sub-rule (1), shall be updated annually.
       (3) The record, referred to in the said sub-rule, shall be maintained transparently, in the public domain, and used for the purposes of clause (e) of section 9
       (4) The record, referred to in the said sub-rule shall, in respect of every child, include
       (a) name, sex, date of birth, place of birth;
       (b) name, address, occupation of parent or guardian;
       (c) pre-primary school/anganwadi centre that the child attends (upto age 6);

R.11 Admission of children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group.--

       (1) The school referred to in clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 shall ensure that children admitted in accordance with clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 12 shall not be segregated from the other children in the classrooms nor shall their classes be held at places and timings different from the classes held for the other children.
       (2) The school referred to in clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 shall ensure that children admitted in accordance with clause (c) of sub-section (I) of section 12 shall not be discriminated from the rest of the children in any manner pertaining to entitlements and facilities such as text books, uniforms, library and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) facilities, extra-curricular and sports.
       (3) The area or limits of neighbourhood specified in sub-rule (1) of ru

R.12 Reimbursement of per-child-expenditure by the appropriate Government.--

       (1) The total annual recurring expenditure incurred by the appropriate Government, from its own funds, and funds provided by the Central Government and by any other authority, on elementary education in respect of all schools referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause (n) of section 2, divided by the total number of children enrolled in all such schools, shall be the per-child-expenditure incurred by the appropriate Government.
       Explanation. - For the purpose of determining the per-child-expenditure, the expenditure incurred by the appropriate Government or local authority on schools referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (n) of section 2 and the children enrolled in such schools shall not be included.
       (2) Every school referred to in clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 shall maintain a separate bank account in respect of the

R.13 Documents as age proof.--

       Wherever a birth certificate under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Certification Act, 1886 (6 of 1886) is not available, any one of the following documents shall be deemed to be proof of age of the child for the purposes of admission in schools -
       (a) hospital or Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife (ANM) register record;
       (b) anganwadi record;
       (c) declaration of the age of the child by the parent or guardian;

R.14 Extended period for admission.--

       (1) Extended period of admission shall be six months from the date of commencement of the academic year of a school.
       (2) Where a child is admitted in a school after the extended period, he shall be eligible to complete studies with the help of special training, as determined by the head teacher of the school.

R.15 Recognition to school.--

       (1) Every school, other than a school established, owned or controlled by the Central Government, appropriate Government or the local authority, established before the commencement of this Act shall make a self declaration within a period of three months of the commencement of the Act, in Form No. 1 to the concerned District Education Officer regarding its compliance or otherwise with the norms and standards specified in the Schedule and fulfillment of the following conditions, namely :-
       (a) the school is run by a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or a public trust constituted under any law for the time being in force;
       (b) the school is not run for profit to any individual, group or association of individuals or any other persons;
       (c) the school confor

R.16 Withdrawal of recognition to school.--

       (1) Where the District Education Officer (hereinafter in this rule referred to as the said Officer) on his own motion, or on any representation received from any person, has reason to believe, to be recorded in writing, that a school recognised under rule 15, has violated one or more of the conditions for grant of recognition or has failed to fulfill the norms and standards specified in the Schedule, the District Education Officer shall act in the following manner, -
       (a) issue a notice to the school specifying the violations of the condition of grant of recognition and seek its explanation within one month.
       (b) in case the explanation is not found to be satisfactory or no explanation is received within the stipulated time period, the said Officer may cause an inspection of the school, to be conducted by a Committee of three to five membe

R.17 Minimum qualifications.--

       (1) The Central Government shall, within one month of the appointed date, notify an academic authority for laying down the minimum qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher.
       (2) The academic authority notified under sub-rule (1), shall, within three months of such notification, lay down the minimum qualifications for persons to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in an elementary school.
       (3) The minimum qualifications laid down by the academic authority referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be applicable for every school referred to in clause (n) of section 2.

R.18 Relaxation of minimum qualifications.--

       (1) The State Government and the Union territory shall, within six months from the commencement of the Act, estimate the teacher requirement as per the norms in the Schedule for all schools referred to in clause (n) of section 2.
       (2) Where a State Government or a Union territory does not have adequate institutions offering courses or training in teacher education, or persons possessing minimum qualifications as notified in sub-rule (2) of rule 17 are not available in sufficient numbers in relation to the requirement of teachers estimated under sub-rule (1), the State Government or the Union territory shall request, within one year of the commencement of the Act, the Central Government for relaxation of the prescribed minimum qualification.
       (3) On receipt of the request referred to in sub-rule (2), the Central Government shall examine the

R.19 Acquiring minimum qualifications.--

       (1) The State Government and the Union territory shall provide adequate teacher education facilities to ensure that all teachers in schools referred to in sub-clause (i), and schools owned and managed by the Central Government or the State Government or Union territory or local authority under sub-clause (iii), of clause (n) of section 2, who do not possess the minimum qualifications laid down under sub-rule (2) of rule 17 at the time of commencement of the Act, to acquire such minimum qualifications within a period of five years from the commencement of the Act.
       (2) For a teacher, of a school referred to in sub-clause (ii) and (iv) of clause (n) of section 2, and of a school referred to in sub-clause (iii) of clause (n) of section 2 not owned and managed by the Central Government, State Government or Union Territory or local, who does not possess the minimum qualifications laid do

R.20 Salary and allowances and conditions of service of teachers.--

       (1) The Central Government or the appropriate Government or the local authority, as the case may be, shall notify terms and conditions of service and salary and allowances of teachers of schools owned and managed by them in order to create a professional and permanent cadre of teachers.
       (2) In particular and without prejudice to sub-rule (1), the terms and conditions of service shall take into account the following, namely : -
       (a) accountability of teachers to the School Management Committee;
       (b) provisions enabling long term stake of teachers in the teaching profession.
       (3) The scales of pay and allowances, medical facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund, and other prescribed benefits of teachers shall be at par for similar qualification, wor

R.21 Duties performed by teachers.--

       (1) The teacher shall maintain a file containing the pupil cumulative record for every child shall be the basis for awarding the certificate for completion of elementary education.
       (2) A teacher, in addition to the functions specified in clauses (a) to (e) of sub-section (1) of section 24, may perform the following duties :
       (a) participation in training programmes;
       (b) participation in curriculum formulation, and development of syllabi, training modules and text book development;

R.22 Maintaining pupil-teacher ratio.--

       (1) The sanctioned strength of teachers in a school shall be notified by the Central Government, appropriate Government or the local authority, as the case may be, within a period of three months of the appointed date:
       Provided that the Central Government, appropriate Government or the local authority, as the case may be, shall, within three months of such notification, redeploy teachers of schools having strength in excess of the sanctioned strength prior to the notification referred to in sub-rule (1).
       (2) If any person of the Central Government, appropriate Government or the local authority violates the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 25, he or she shall be personally liable for disciplinary action.
       
       
     &

R.23 Academic authority.--

       (1) The Central Government shall notify an academic authority for the purposes of section 29 within one month of the appointed date.
       (2) While laying down the curriculum and evaluation procedure, the academic authority notified under sub-rule (1) shall, -
       (a) formulate the relevant and age appropriate syllabus and text books and other learning material;
       (b) develop in-service teacher training design; and
       (c) prepare guidelines for putting into practice continuous and comprehensive evaluation.
       (3) The academic authority referred to in sub-rule (1) shall design and implement a process of holistic school quality assessment on a regular basis.

R.24 Award of certificate.--

       (1) The certificate of completion of elementary education shall be issued at the school level within one month of the completion of elementary education.
       (2) The certificate referred to in sub-rule (1) shall contain the pupil cumulative record of the child.
       
       
       
       
       

R.25 Performance of functions by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.--

The Central Government shall provide resource support to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in performance of its functions under the Act.

R.26 Manner of furnishing complaints before the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.--

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights may set up a child helpline to register complaints regarding violation of rights of the child under the Act, which may be monitored by it through a transparent on-line mechanism.

R.27 Performance of functions by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.--

       (1) An appropriate Government which does not have a State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, may take immediate steps to set up such Commission.
       (2) Till such time as the appropriate Government sets up the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, it shall constitute an interim authority known as the Right to Education Protection Authority (hereinafter in this rule referred to as the REPA) for the purposes of performing the functions specified in sub-section (1) of section 31, within six months of the commencement of Act or the constitution of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, whichever is earlier.
       (3) The Right to Education Protection Authority (REPA) shall consist of the following, namely -
       (a) a chairperson who is a person of high academic repute or has bee

R.28 Manner of furnishing complaints before the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.--

       (1) The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, or the Right to Education Protection Authority (hereinafter in this rule referred to as REPA), as the case may be, may set up a child help line which would register complaints regarding violation of rights of the child under the Act, which may be monitored by it through a transparent on-line mechanism.

R.29 Constitution of the National Advisory Council.--

       (1) The National Advisory Council (hereinafter in this rule referred to as the Council) shall consist of a Chairperson and fourteen Members.
       (2) The Minister of Human Resource Development shall be the ex-officio chairperson of the Council.
       (3) Members of the Council shall be appointed by the Central Government from amongst persons having knowledge and practical experience in the field of elementary education and child development, as under
       (a) at least three members should be from amongst persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste, the Scheduled Tribe and minorities;
       (b) at least one member should be from amongst persons having specialized knowledge and practical experience of education of children with special needs;
     

R.30 Functions of the National Advisory Council.--

       (1) The National Advisory Council shall function in an advisory capacity.
       (2) The National Advisory Council shall perform one or more of the following functions, namely: -
       (a) review
       (i) norms and standards specified in the Schedule;
       (ii) compliance with teacher qualifications and trainings; and
       (iii) implementation of section 29;
       (b) commission studies and research for the effective implementation of the Act;
       (c) coordinate with the State Advisory Councils;
       (d) act as an interface between the public and the media and the Central Government in creating awareness, mobilisat

R.31 Constitution of the State Advisory Council.--

       (1) The State Advisory Council (hereinafter referred to in this rule as the Council) shall consist of a chairperson and fourteen members.
       (2) The Minister in-charge of School Education in the appropriate Government shall be the ex-officio chairperson of the Council.
       (3) Members of the Council shall be appointed by the appropriate Government from amongst persons having knowledge and practical experience in the field of elementary education and child development, as under
       (a) at least three members should be from amongst persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste, the Scheduled Tribe and minorities;
       (b) at least one member should be from amongst persons having specialized knowledge and practical experience of education of children with special needs;

APPENDIX.1 APPENDIX

       APPENDIX
       FORM I
       SELF DECLARATION CUM APPLICATION
       FOR GRANT OF RECOGNITION OF SCHOOL
       (See sub-rule (1) of rule 15)
       To
       The District Education Officer
       (Name of District and Union territory)
       Sir,
       I forward herewith with a self declaration regarding compliance with the norms and standards specified in the Schedule of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and an application in the prescribed proforma for the grant of recognition to ............................................ (Name of the school)............