ABSTRACT
The rationale of reserving 25 per cent seats for the economically weaker section (EWS) in schools run by the non-state sector and the ongoing debate on it contributes interestingly to the definition of a quality education as envisaged in the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The RTE has used the word quality to define what the state envisages as a meaningful and relevant education and in the process has succumbed to the need of modern times to quantify, prioritise and compare. While setting quality standards is not something to be rundown, the effort becomes particularly problematic in an area like education, where the quality that requires to be quantified is something so delicate a product, as the core or character of education. The chapter defines this character by such tangibles as a school building, pupil teacher ratio (PTR) and timelines for curriculum completion. It steps into neoliberal ideas of system and management, which are strongly influenced by economic policies.
