Right to education to cover secondary schools soon – HRD Minister

New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Kapil  Sibal on Tuesday hoped the Right to Education (RTE) act will cover secondary schools in the coming years.

"In the coming five years similar rights will cover secondary education," Sibal said while addressing a function organized by the ministry and UNICEF.

He said the act will address the problem of high dropout rates.

The Right to Education act, which came into force on April 1, 2010, makes education a fundamental right for children between 6 to 14 years of age and is to be implemented for the first time in the country.

As per the act, every child in the age group will be provided eight years of elementary education in an appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his or her neighborhood.