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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
Anita Sumanth
Deepak – Appellant
Versus
Chief Educational Officer, Office of the Chief Educational Officer – Respondent
ORDER :
Anita Sumanth, J.
1. The petitioner in W.P.No.14910 of 2024 is the father of one D.Lidharshana and the petitioner is W.P.No.14913 of 2024 is the father of one Sinamika Elango. Lidharshana and Sinamika are referred to as 'child' or collectively, as 'children'. They seek a mandamus directing the respondents, being the authorities of the Education Department of the State of Tamil Nadu/R1 to R3, and R4, being N.G.R.A. Nursery and Primary School, Coimbatore (W.P.No.14910 of 2024) and Kalaivani Matriculation School, Coimbatore (W.P.No.14913 of 2024) to admit the children to Lower Kindergarten under the RIGHT TO CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION ACT , 2009 (in short 'RTE Act').
2. Both the children belong to the Scheduled Caste (Arunthathiyar) Community and come under the category of 'child belonging to disadvantaged group'. The petitioners had applied for admission in R4 school online on 04.05.2024 vide application No.1727589 (W.P.No.14910 of 2024) and 8702905 (W.P.No.14913 of 2024) seeking benefit under Section 2(d) of the RTE Act.
3. Both the applications have come to be rejected by respective R4 schools on the ground that their residences were situated beyond one kilomet
The criteria for admission under the RTE Act is not rigid; schools must admit eligible children even if they reside beyond prescribed distances, provided vacancies exist.
The Right to Education Act mandates flexible application of distance criteria to ensure access to education for all eligible children.
The Right to Education Act aims to ensure educational access for underprivileged children, and rigid adherence to distance criteria that denies admission contradicts this purpose.
The Amendment Rules exempting private unaided schools from admitting 25% disadvantaged children based on proximity to government schools violate the RTE Act and Article 21-A, as they impose condition....
The right to education under the RTE Act does not guarantee admission to a specific school, and residency criteria based on wards must be clarified by the State.
The judgment establishes that executive actions must comply with statutory mandates, particularly in education, and emphasizes the importance of the neighborhood principle in school admissions.
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