The Right To Education (RTE) Act that got passed in India has been in the news lately. Most recently, I watched an "interview" of Kapil Sibal, the Union HRD Minister on Barkha Dutt's "We the People".
Based on the information I have, here are some of the issues I see.
Cost
The 25% reservation that government mandates in private schools is going to be funded "by the money spent by government on each child". That is
Rs 13,000 according to Mr Sibal. I will pay close to Rs 80,000 this academic year for my son, excluding bus, cafetaria, and uniform costs. Who will bridge the gap?
According to Mr Sibal, school fee is a state subject and 90% of the states do not regulate it in any way. So what does this mean? The remaining 75% of parents will have to bear the difference for the 25% reserved seats. This is *completely* unfair -- a triple whammy. I pay taxes, I pay education cess on taxes and THEN I pay to subsidize 25% of the reserved seats in school!
Overturning Capitalism?
Mr Sibal did mention that private schools are for-profit enterprises (they are -- they make money on everything including a pair of school socks), and they should "use that profit" fund the 25% reserved seats.
My first response to that is "yeah right". A more considered response is this: why single the for-profit education sector? Why not mandate that ALL for-profit enterprises should put aside "x"% of their profits for education? But hey, isn't this ALREADY happening when we pay taxes and education cess?
Impact on the child
This one applies to private schools where the medium of instruction is English. By class 1, children are expected to be able to read and write English fairly fluently. I don't see any plan of pre-tutoring the children coming into the reserved seats, so they can cope with the medium of instruction. Or is this simply going to be fodder for the local governments to convert the medium of instruction of ALL schools to the local language? (I live in Bangalore where there was a huge ruckus over this issue a few years ago.)
Private School Infrastructure
Are the reserved seats going to come at the expense of "regular" seats or will they be additional seats? The former will impact "non-economically weak" parent; the latter raises the question: who will bear the infrastructure costs of additional classrooms, labs and so on?
To quote Mr Sibal again, 7% of schools in India are private and the rest of the "expenditure" on education is done by the government. These 7% schools cater to ~20% of school going children. This is already disproportionate. and additional seats will mean that 7% of schools will now cater to over 25% of school going children.
Yeh Hai India Meri Jaan
Let's face it -- we live in a country where bribes, sifaarish based on money changing hands, favors and the like rule the roost. I don't see safeguards in place to prevent the 25% reservation from becoming a hotbed of corruption. Mr Sibal did mention "neighbourhood committees" in "catchment areas" but they don't seem adequate to me.
Passing the Buck
It seems to me that reservation of seats in private schools is a fantastic way for the government to pass the buck on building a really solid public school infrastructure -- which is what we really need. My fear is that as with most government schemes, a couple of schools will be built, a few ribbons cut and then the rest of the money will either get squandered or siphoned off.
Conclusion
IMO, RTE is next-gen Garibi Hatao for the Congress and its allies. It will surely win elections. Provide education for all? Remains to be seen.
. Much like life -- it goes on with its ups and downs till it comes to an end. 
