Vice Principal & Principal 2026 — 5,847 explained questions, 18 chapters and 13 full papers for the DoE Delhi CRT.Start reading
Principal Sarathi VP & Principal 2026

Education & Child-Rights Law

Syllabus head (iv) — Educational policies / law | Chapter 6 of 18

46questions, every one explained
8items in the 2022 paper drew on this chapter

Why this chapter matters

Two independent reasons make this chapter compulsory reading, not optional polish.

First, the paper itself. In the 2022 Combined Recruitment Test for these posts, roughly three questions came from the RTE Act alone, about two more from the UNCRC/Juvenile Justice cluster, and further items touched RTI-style transparency law. That is a visible, repeatable slice of a 120-question paper — and it is the most learnable slice, because statutes do not change their section numbers between attempts.

Second, the post you are applying for. A Vice Principal or Principal in a Directorate of Education school is not a bystander to these laws; he or she is the legal duty-bearer under them:

Examiners know all this, which is why they love asking these Acts to future school heads. Treat this chapter as both exam material and a job manual.

Three questions from this chapter, solved

Every one of the 46 items is written this way — the answer, and why each wrong option is wrong.

Statement-I: A 17-year-old accused of a heinous offence may, after a preliminary assessment by the Juvenile Justice Board, be tried as an adult by the Children's Court. Statement-II: The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 defines a child as a person who has not completed eighteen years of age.

  1. (a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, and Statement-II is the correct explanation of Statement-I
  2. (b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II is not the correct explanation of Statement-I
  3. (c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  4. (d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct
Answer (b).

— Both statements are true, but the adult-mode trial flows from the special 16–18 heinous-offence machinery (preliminary assessment and transfer), not from the definition of "child" — so Statement-II is not the explanation of Statement-I. (a) is the classic error: the definition alone would keep every under-18 inside the juvenile system; it is the transfer machinery that permits the adult-mode trial.

With reference to mandatory reporting under the POCSO Act, consider the following statements:

  1. Section 19 obliges any person who knows of, or apprehends, an offence to report it to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police.
  2. Failure to report is itself punishable under Section 21.
  3. A school head who fails to report an offence committed by a subordinate against a child in the school may be punished with imprisonment of up to one year.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 1, 2 and 3
  3. (c) 2 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1 and 2 only
Answer (b).

— All three are correct: Section 19 imposes the universal reporting duty, Section 21 punishes failure (up to six months), and the person in charge of an institution faces up to one year for failing to report a subordinate's offence — the school head's clause. Options that drop statement 3 miss Section 21's enhanced institutional-head liability — the very clause aimed at principals.

Statement-I: To be appointed a teacher for Classes I–VIII, a person must possess the prescribed minimum qualifications, which include passing the Teacher Eligibility Test. Statement-II: Section 23(1) of the RTE Act empowers an academic authority authorised by the Central Government — the NCTE — to lay down the minimum qualifications for teachers.

  1. (a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, and Statement-II is the correct explanation of Statement-I
  2. (b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II is not the correct explanation of Statement-I
  3. (c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  4. (d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct
Answer (a).

— Both statements are correct, and the TET requirement exists precisely because the NCTE, as the Section 23(1) academic authority, prescribed it as part of the minimum qualifications — so Statement-II explains Statement-I. The trap is (b): since the TET flows directly from the Section 23(1) authority, "not the correct explanation" is exactly wrong.

THE RTE ACT 2009: THE CORE STATUTE

A1. Identity card of the Act

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) is the law contemplated by Article 21A. Fix these identity facts first:

Fact Detail
Enacted (Presidential assent) 26 August 2009
Came into force 1 April 2010 — the same day Article 21A came into force
Beneficiary Every child of 6–14 years
Core right (Sec 3) Free and compulsory elementary education in a neighbourhood school till completion of elementary education (Classes I–VIII)
"Free" means No fee, charge or expense that prevents the child from completing elementary education
"Compulsory" means Compulsion on the appropriate government and local authority to ensure admission, attendance and completion — the duty is on the State, not a penalty on the child or parent
Extent Whole of India (originally excepting Jammu & Kashmir; central laws including RTE were extended to J&K after the 2019 reorganisation)
Who is exempt Minority institutions (after Pramati, 2014); madrasas, Vedic pathshalas and institutions imparting primarily religious instruction (Sec 1, as amended in 2012)

Trap: 26 August 2009 is the enactment date; 1 April 2010 is the commencement date. Papers regularly swap the two.

Under the Model Rules, a neighbourhood school must ordinarily exist within a walking distance of 1 km for Classes I–V and 3 km for Classes VI–VIII.

A2. Master section map

This table is the skeleton of Part A. Everything after it is flesh.

Section Provision (memory version)
3 Right of every 6–14 child to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school
4 Never-enrolled/dropout child: age-appropriate admission plus special training to catch up
5 Right to transfer to another school; transfer certificate cannot be a ground for delay
6 Government/local authority to establish a neighbourhood school within 3 years of commencement
8–9 Duties of the appropriate government and the local authority (funds, infrastructure, records of children up to 14, admissions monitoring)
10 Duty of parents/guardians to admit the child (echoes Article 51A(k))
11 Appropriate government may provide pre-school education for the 3–6 age group
12(1)(c) 25% admission at entry level in private unaided (non-minority) and specified-category schools for children of weaker sections and disadvantaged groups
13 No capitation fee, no screening procedure for admission
14 Proof of age; admission cannot be denied for lack of age documents
15 No denial of admission — a child can be admitted even after the extended admission period, any time in the academic year
16 Originally: no detention, no expulsion till completion of elementary education; recast by the 2019 Amendment (see Part B)
17 Prohibition of physical punishment and mental harassment; violator faces disciplinary action under service rules
18 No school without a certificate of recognition
19 + Schedule Norms and standards for schools (PTR, working days, building, library, etc.)
21 School Management Committee (SMC) — at least 75% parents/guardians, 50% women
22 SMC prepares the School Development Plan (SDP) — basis for grants
23 Teacher qualifications — laid down by the academic authority notified by the Central Government (NCTE); includes the TET requirement
24 Duties of teachers (regularity, complete curriculum, assess, parent meetings)
25 Pupil–Teacher Ratio to be maintained in each school (not as a district average)
26 Teacher vacancies not to exceed 10% of sanctioned strength
27 No non-educational deployment of teachers except decennial census, disaster relief and election duties
28 No private tuition by teachers
29 Curriculum and evaluation — child-centred learning, mother tongue as medium as far as practicable, CCE
30 No board examination till completion of elementary education; completion certificate
31 NCPCR / SCPCR monitor the child's right to education
32 Grievance redressal — written complaint to the local authority; appeal to the SCPCR
33–34 National and State Advisory Councils

A3. The right and the supporting duties (Sections 3–11)

Trap: RTE itself covers 6–14 only. Pre-primary (3–6) appears in Section 11 as an enabling provision, not as a right. (NEP 2020's 3–18 vision, covered in Chapter 5, is policy — not yet the statutory right.)

A4. Admissions: Sections 12–15

Section 12 distributes responsibility across school types:

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