The Right to Education Act: Trends in Enrollment, Test Scores, and School Quality

Abstract

The Right to Education (RTE) Act passed in 2009 guarantees access to free primary education to all children ages 6-14 in India. This paper investigates whether national trends in educational outcomes change around the time of this law using household surveys and administrative data. We document four trends: (1) school-going increases after the passage of RTE, (2) test scores decline dramatically after 2010, (3) school infrastructure appears to improve both before and after RTE, and (4) the number of students who have to repeat a grade falls precipitously after RTE is enacted, in line with official provisions of the law.