Munmun Kaur
Published On: February 23, 2022 at 11:24 IST
The Delhi High Court on February 22 issued notices to Delhi Government and Centre pursuant to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed which challenged a provision of the Right to Education Act (RTE Act) 2009 and sought direction to bring in Madrasas, Vedic Pathshalas, and educational institutions imparting religious instruction within the ambit of 2009 Act.
The PIL was filed by one Ashwini Upadhyay, in the Delhi High Court after Supreme Court refused to hear the matter and advised the petitioner to approach the High Court. The Apex Court had said, “We make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the Case.”
The Plea specifically mentioned Section 1(4) and 1(5) of the RTE Act that they deprive educational excellence to Madrasas, Vedic Pathshalas, and educational institutions imparting religious instruction and therefore a direction was sought to declare the said Sections as arbitrary irrational, and violative of Articles 14, 15, 16, 21, 21A of the Constitution.
The Petition stated, compulsory education which mandates every child to attend school but lacks in providing an effective common curriculum is worse than providing no education at all. It further read that the hallmark of the education system is syllabus and curriculum which must be equally and uniformly applied across the board, so as to ensure that there is leveled playing field for each student.
It was further submitted that the Right of children should not be restricted to only free and compulsory education but must be extended to equal quality education without any discrimination.
A Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh hearing the matter sought responses from all Respondents including Central Government and Government of NCT of Delhi.
The matter was listed for March 30, 2022.