Sibal said every school in India would have to fulfil infrastructure requirements and the states have been advised to set up recognition authorities. 'This is the first time such a leap forward had been taken,' the minister added.

Among other firsts, he said to ensure there were properly qualified teachers, the legislation would give under-qualified teachers five years to acquire the necessary academic credentials.

Simultaneously, the states would be told that all new appointments must meet qualification standards prescribed by an academic authority.

The legislation, in what the minister said was another historic move, calls for 25 percent reservation in private schools for disadvantaged children from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and socially and educationally backward sections.

He said the states have been given the liberty to decide the disadvantaged classes whose children would be eligible under the 25 percent reservation category.

However, the law would make it mandatory when the model rules were framed for its implementation that children with disabilities were mandatorily included among the disadvantaged children.

'This will be the first time in India that disabled children are integrated with the school system,' Sibal said.