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Summary: The Indian Supreme Court's ruling on a child's right to education (RTE) that private schools must keep a quarter of their seats open for poor students has been welcomed, though challenges in implementation have presented themselves. Last week, as part of a new strategy to realise the decades-long right to universal primary education, the Supreme Court of India ordered elite primary schools nationwide to reserve 25 per cent of spaces for low-income pupils. Before the court's decision, families from poor socio-economic backgrounds were humiliated as private schools continued to refuse entry to their children, despite the 2009 law. The Court’s decision is certainly a victory for these parents who spent fruitless hours filling out paperwork yet were even denied mere entry into the grounds of some schools. Still, implementation of the ruling will be tough, say some commentators. For instance, a Delhi High Court (HC) only obliges private schools to admit low-income children from their neighbourhoods—of course, the higher-income neighbourhoods where these schools are located are not often the same communities of slum-dwellers and low-income households. Many vulnerable children living more than a kilometre from the schools were excluded. The Joint Operation for Social Help (JOSH), which works with youth living in slums and resettlement colonies in Delhi, has already lodged 135 complaints related to the admission of low-income students to elite schools with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), says First Post. The Right to Education Act calls for free primary education for all children aged six to fourteen. Education activists say that half of Indian children do not attend school, which is evidenced by low literacy rates, among women in particular. Many of the children that do enrol in and attend school are forced drop out before completing a full course. Some 45 million children are said to be engaged in child labour. In addition to the private schools initiatives, a number of other efforts will have to be taken, each tackling a contributing factors to inadequate access to education. Tasks include: infrastructure, building new classrooms; training teachers; and getting parents on board with the idea that in the long-run, sending their sons and daughters to school is a better economic option that sending them to work. Different community members are doing what they can to pitch in. Sanjoy Narayan, Editor-in-chief of the Indian newspaper, the Hindustan Times, today announced that the paper will donate a portion of its sales profits to educate underprivileged children in the Delhi area. With better access to quality education, some hope that the caste divide of Indian society can be conquered and human rights better realised. Further Information: