New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday questioned the freedom given to unaided private schools to formulate their own nursery admission criteria.
A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice V.K. Jain said: "If schools frame their own criteria for admission what will happen to the (Right to Education) act?"
The bench also observed that giving liberty to schools to frame their own admission criteria would be "unguided power", which could also result in discrimination between the children.
"Giving liberty to every school to frame different criteria for admission would be unguided liberty or power."
The court told the counsel appearing for schools not to discriminate between children. "Is this not discrimination? Don't make further classification. Don't discriminate between children."
It, meanwhile, refused to consider the report of Ganguly Committee which was sought to be submitted by the counsel before the bench.
"We are not going to consider the report," the bench said, adding that it is only concerned whether the notification of government is against the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act and Article 21A of the Constitution, providing education to be a fundamental right.
"The act (article 21A) is only for the interests of the children and not the schools," said the bench.
The court was hearing a petition filed by NGO Social Jurist against the two notifications of the union human resource development ministry and Delhi government's directorate of education, empowering unaided private schools to formulate own nursery admission criteria.
The PIL by the NGO through advocate Ashok Agarwal alleged that these two notifications had given a free hand to all unaided recognised private schools.
The court had on Monday said the city government cannot "dilute" the right to education law by allowing unaided private schools to formulate their own criteria for nursery admissions.