India’s Right to Education Act, one of the most ambitious education policies globally, was passed in 2005. It seeks to provide free, compulsory, quality education to children between ages 6 and 14 but remains a challenge In India. In India, 47 million adolescents have not progressed to upper secondary school, the highest in the world. This fact is particularly worrisome since India is set to become the country with the youngest population by 2020.

Video Volunteers’ videos bring viewers into the most disadvantaged schools. Many Correspondents use the Act as a frame to explore what is working and not working. So far more than 100 schools have been audited across 8 states as part of VV’s RTE Pass ya Fail campaign. In these schools, there is a lack of safe drinking water, dirty or no toilets and an inadequate number of teachers, among other issues. Often, there is caste discrimination in the provision of the mid-day meal and school chores.

These video reports have been shown to various government agencies, and in many cases, officials took positive action. Of the total 297 videos, VV has produced on the Right to Education Act, so far problems have been resolved in more than 160 cases, thanks to the Community Correspondent, community, and administration working together.