Question

Which one of the following statements is correct?
Right to free and compulsory education for all children of the age of 6 to 14 years is:

• A. a fundamental right enforceable in law
• B. a fundamental duty
• C. a directive principle of state policy
• D. a fundamental right which, however, can be enforced only if the state makes an enabling legislation

Hint:

Find the Article number and the Part it sits in. Article 21A was inserted by the 86th Amendment into Part III, the fundamental rights chapter.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We must place the right to free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 in the correct constitutional box. The choices are a fundamental right, a fundamental duty, a directive principle, or a fundamental right that waits on legislation.

Step 2: The relevant provision, Article 21A:
Article 21A was inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002. It reads that the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.
It sits in Part III of the Constitution, the Part that holds the fundamental rights. That placement matters, because rights in Part III are enforceable in the Supreme Court under Article 32 and in the High Courts under Article 226. So the answer is a fundamental right enforceable in law, option (A).

Step 3: How this right moved from Part IV to Part III:
Before 2002 education appeared only in Article 45, a directive principle asking the State to provide free and compulsory education for all children until they completed the age of fourteen. Directive principles are not enforceable by any court under Article 37.
In Unni Krishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1993) the Supreme Court read a right to education for children up to fourteen into the right to life under Article 21. Parliament then made it express through Article 21A, and Parliament later passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Article 45 was recast to cover early childhood care and education for children below six.

Step 4: Why the other options fail:
Option (B) confuses this with Article 51A(k), which places a duty on a parent or guardian to give education opportunities to his child between six and fourteen. That duty falls on the parent, not the State, and is a separate provision.
Option (C) states the position as it stood before 2002. Article 45 has since been amended and the right itself now lives in Part III, so this answer is out of date.
Option (D) is the tempting distractor. It seizes on the words "in such manner as the State may, by law, determine". Those words control the manner of delivery, not the existence of the right. The right became enforceable the moment Article 21A came into force; a citizen did not have to wait for the 2009 Act to approach a court.

Final Answer:
Article 21A places the right in Part III, which makes it a fundamental right enforceable in law. The answer is option (A).