SC reserves verdict on Right to Education Act

Updated on: Thursday, August 04, 2011

The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the validity of provisions of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act which make it mandatory for private schools to reserve of 25 per cent seats for children of economically backward sections.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swantanter Kumar concluded the marathon hearings which began on February 17 to examine certain provisions of the law which made right to education a fundamental right of children in the age group of 6-14 years.

A batch of petitions by private unaided institutions and others contended that the Act violated the rights of private educational institutions under Article 19(1)(g) which provided maximum autonomy to private managements to run their institutions without governmental interference.

However, the Centre defended the law saying it was aimed at uplifting the socially and economically weaker section of society.

The Centre emphasised the need to de-link merit and talent from these social and economic differences and said that the act calls for "moving towards composite classrooms with children from perse backgrounds, rather than homogeneous and exclusivist schools".

The main petitioner Society for Un-aided Private Schools, Rajasthan, and a host of associations representing various private schools have questioned the validity of the Act on the ground that it impinged on their rights to run the educational institutions.

The Act also mandated that private educational institutions have to reserve 25 per cent of the seats for children from poor families.

SC reserves verdict on Right to Education Act

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