New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said a plea concerning the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act be placed before the chief justice of India for appropriate orders.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih noted that a similar issue relating to the RTE Act was pending adjudication before the apex court.
The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Nitin Upadhyay who has sought a direction that schools providing both religious and secular education are covered under the provisions of the RTE Act. The petition, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, also challenged the validity of sections 1(4) and 1(5) of the Act, claiming they were arbitrary and contrary to various provisions of the Constitution, including Article 14 (equality before law).
It said Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which was introduced to maintain the quality of teachers, was applicable to non-minority institutions but not applicable to minority institutions.
“Petitioner is filing PIL under Article 32 seeking writ order or direction that RTE Act and Teacher Eligibility Test shall be uniformly applicable to all schools...,” the plea said.
Doubting the correctness of its 2014 verdict that kept minority schools out of the RTE Act’s ambit, the apex court had on September 1 referred the matter to a larger bench for adjudication.
“We hasten to observe with utmost humility at our command that the decision in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust (supra) might have, unknowingly, jeopardised the very foundation of universal elementary education. Exemption of minority institutions from the RTE Act leads to fragmentation of the common schooling vision and weakening of the idea of inclusivity and universality envisioned by Article 21A,” the top court had said.
Article 21A deals with Right to Education and says, “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.”
The top court had said the RTE Act ensured children a range of entitlements such as basic infrastructure, trained teachers, books, uniforms and mid-day meals.
However, minority schools excluded from the RTE Act’s purview, were not necessarily bound to provide these facilities, it had said.
The top court had framed four questions, including, “whether the judgment in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust exempting minority educational institutions, whether aided or unaided, falling under clause (1) of Article 30 of the Constitution, from the purview of the entirety of the RTE Act does require reconsideration for the reasons assigned by us?”.