Not giving access to online education infra amounts to 'digital apartheid': Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday directed private and government schools like KVs to provide gadgets and an Internet package to poor students for online classes, saying not doing so amounts to "discrimination" and creates "digital apartheid".

To separate such students from others in the same class due to the unavailability of a gadget or device would generate "a feeling of inferiority" that may "affect their hearts and minds unlikely ever to be undone", the court said.

A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula said if a school decides to voluntarily provide synchronous face-to-face real-time online education as a method of teaching, they must ensure that EWS and disadvantaged group students also have access to the technology.

The court said: "Segregation in education is a denial of equal protection of the laws under Article 14 of the Constitution and in particular the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009."

By not providing the required equipment to the EWS/DG students, the private schools were putting a financial barrier that prevented them from pursuing and completing their elementary education in the present pandemic, it said in its 94-page judgment.

This is a violation of the RTE Act provisions, the bench said, rejecting as "misconceived" the argument of the private schools that they are required to provide the equipment to EWS/DG students only if they are doing so in case of fee-paying students.

The judgment came on a PIL by NGO Justice for All, represented by advocate Khagesh Jha, seeking directions to the Centre and the Delhi government to provide free laptops, tablets or mobile phones to poor kids so that they can access classes online during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The court added that the schools "shall be entitled to claim reimbursement of reasonable cost" from the state for procuring the same under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, "even though the State was not providing the same to its students".

The bench also directed the constitution of a three-member committee, comprising education secretary from the Centre or his nominee, Delhi government's education secretary or his nominee and a representative of the private schools, to expedite and streamline the process of identifying and supplying the gadgets to poor and disadvantaged students. It added the committee will also be empowered to frame SOPs for identifying the standard equipment for these students.