India's Right to Education Unfunded Mandate

India's Right to Education Act is an unfunded mandate that leaves government schools with a 30:1 student-teacher ratio, 25% teacher absenteeism, and infrastructure so poor that 60% of classrooms lack functional toilets. The law promises free education to 260 million children but allocates only 3% of GDP to schooling, half the global benchmark. As a result, 50% of fifth-graders cannot read a simple paragraph, and 70% cannot perform basic arithmetic, proving that a right without funding is merely a hollow promise.