The Karnataka High Court on Thursday said that it would figure out whether schools, which are not complying with the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act in the State, are actually minority educational institutions as envisaged in the Constitution.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice A.S. Bopanna passed an order in this regard while asking the State government to provide the list of schools that are not complying with the RTE Act while claiming that they were monitory institutions exempted from the ambit of the RTE as per the verdict of the Supreme Court.
The Bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Bangalore-based advocate S. Vasudeva seeking a probe into the non-admission of students from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes in schools, affiliated to the Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association, that describe themselves as minority educational institutions.
The order was passed after the government counsel, R. Devdas, informed the Bench that many private unaided schools have written to the Education Department that they belong to “minority” educational institutions and hence they cannot be compelled to follow the RTE. The next hearing is on September 10.
