Understanding Child Rights in India

Cultural metaphors as means to contextualised understanding of child and childhood

“…Recently, it amended the National Policy for Children, 2013 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (GoI, 2013, 2015). Although the legal, regulatory approach challenges orthodox beliefs and addresses systemic inequities arising from gendered and marginalised identities (Grewal & Singh, 2011), the presumption of an ideal, universal child adversely impacts disadvantaged children, especially in cultures where the worlds of work and learning are intertwined with social enculturation, for instance, conceptualising child labour as an unethical and exploitative remnant of colonial legacy (Viruru, 2008).…”

Constitutional rights to education and their relationship to national policy and school enrolment

“…This decision catalyzed civil society's demands for reform of both the education system and the constitution itself. In response, the constitution was amended to include a guaranteed right to free education for children aged six to fourteen (Alston and Bhuta, 2005;Grewal and Singh, 2011;Merhotra, 2012). The right to a free and compulsory primary education was subsequently entrenched in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009, which prohibited direct or indirect fees in elementary schools, banned educational discrimination, and assigned the government responsibility for ensuring that all children receive a primary education of adequate quality (Grewal and Singh, 2011;Merhotra, 2012; The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009).…”