Updated on: Saturday, July 20, 2013
The Bombay HC on Friday clarified that school boards will continue till the state legislature repeals the Maharashtra Primary Education Act.
A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice K R Shriram was hearing a petition by members of a primary education school board from Pune, urging a stay on the July 1 ordinance. They said the ordinance's preamble states that the Maharashtra Primary Education Act provisions are inconsistent with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act provisions and the former Act has been repealed, thus dissloving school boards. The HC was informed that children's education will suffer in absence of a caretaker body to manage primary education affairs till a new body takes over.
Petitioner's advocates Anil Anturkar and Sugandh Deshmukh submitted that the boards can continue as per the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act and it will not affect the continuation of the school boards by the repeal ordinance. Government pleader Sandeep Shinde said the boards are dissolved by the ordinance and a n independent machinery is in place under the RTE. The HC said the boards can continue as per MMC Act. "This arrangement can continue till the legislature passes the appropriate act for repealing the Maharashtra Primary Education Act,'' said Justice Kanade.