It's April 1, the Right to Education Act has kicked in and all should turn out rightfully wiser from this All Fools' Day. Or, should they? As with much else in our democracy, there seems to be a world of difference between the act of legislation and the process of implementation. Ask the private schools, in Delhi for instance, that are supposed to reserve 25 percent seats for children from the economically weaker sections of society. Even as the Centre and the Delhi government insist that the private schools must ensure implementation of the Act from today, these schools say they are yet to receive any directive from the government. Admissions for the next session are already over, they point out, and any addition to the number of seats would necessitate additional funds and therefore a hike in fees. The government, on the other hand, maintains the schools knew well in advance that they would have to implement the Act, so no further directives are necessary.

The question, then, is: who will educate the private schools about the Right to Education Act? Shouldn't the government have anticipated this excuse and addressed it by the declared date of implementation?