New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Center and the Punjab government on a petition alleging non-implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 in the state.
The petition has sought a direction to the Center to ensure effective and continuous compliance with the provisions of the law, including the provisions regarding admission of at least 25 per cent children belonging to the weaker section and disadvantaged category in Class I in private schools, by the Punjab government.
“Have you been able to identify some schools that are not doing so,” a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana asked the petitioner who was appearing in person.
The petitioner claimed that the provisions of the Act have not been implemented in Punjab for the past 15 years.
He referred to the 2012 ruling of the Supreme Court that upheld the validity of the RTE Act.
The bench referred to an affidavit filed by the state earlier which stated that more than 450 students belonging to the economically weaker section were admitted to private schools.
The petitioner said the number should have been around 50,000 because, according to government figures, nearly 2,000 students are admitted every year at entry level.
“We are issuing notice,” the bench said.
The Supreme Court suggested that the petitioner conduct a survey in at least one area to find out how many private schools there are and how many schools are not implementing the provisions of the law.
When the petitioner said that he had filed an RTI last year on the issue, the bench observed that the problem with RTI is that the authorities will respond according to the nature of the questions asked.
The plea sought to direct the Center to establish and ensure a transparent, time-bound and verifiable mechanism, including publicly accessible dashboards, to monitor and ensure compliance with Section 12 of the Act in Punjab on an ongoing basis.
Article 12 of the law addresses the extent of the school’s responsibility for free and compulsory education.
Section 12 states that a school shall admit into Class 1, to an extent not less than 25 per cent of the strength of that class, children belonging to the weaker sections and disadvantaged sections of the neighborhood and provide free and compulsory primary education until its completion.
The plea also sought to direct the Center to ensure establishment of a transparent, time-bound and effective implementation mechanism in Punjab to give effect to the provisions of the Act, including identification and publication of available seats, publication of admission schedule, accessible application process, reimbursement framework and enforcement of legal consequences for non-compliance.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
