In a blow to Right to Education in the country, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld a manager’s right to close down a 45-year-old aided upper primary school in Kerala despite fervent pleas by the State government and parents to protect the fundamental right of children to free education.
In a State that boasts 100 per cent literacy, this is likely to become a dangerous precedent, with Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Kerala government, indicating that more such schools had applied for closure.
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‘Not illegal’
The State government had challenged a May 29 order of the Kerala High Court upholding the school manager’s right to close down the aided school under the provisions of the Kerala Education Act and Rules, provided the manager gave a year’s due notice of his intention. It said the manager’s right was circumscribed by the provisions of Rule 6 (10) of the Kerala Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2011. The court, however, was not convinced. “How is this action [of closing down the school] illegal? Did your school apply for recognition under RTE within the time prescribed by law? RTE Act does not allow you to run a school when you don’t have the right to run it,” the Bench observed, while dismissing the State’s petition.
The State argued that the children cannot be made to suffer because the manager of the institution, Malaparamba Aided Upper Primary School in Kozhikode district of Kerala, did not apply for RTE recognition. It argued that it was the “duty and responsibility” of the manager to make a declaration under the RTE Act.
“If managers of aided schools are allowed to close down the school, taking advantage of their own failure to make a self-declaration under the RTE Act or apply for recognition under the Act, it will adversely affect the objective and purpose of the RTE Act. Managers will make use of this situation and close schools for commercial benefits,” the State warned.
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