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1993 Supreme(Ori) 140
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA
D.M. Patnaik, A. Pasayat, JJ.
DEEPAK KUMAR BANKA - APPELLANT
Versus
HEADMASTER, GEORGE HIGH SCHOOL AND ANOTHER - RESPONDENT
O.J.C. No 5807 of 1993
Decided On : 22-12-1993
H.S. Misra, for the Appellant; A. Dash, for Opp. party No. 1 and C.A. Rao, (for Baord), for the Respondent
Regulation 21 of the Orissa Education Code requires a student to attend school for not less than 66% of the working days in each of Classes 9 and 10. This attendance requirement is linked to eligibility to appear at the High School Certificate Examination.
Headnote:
EDUCATION - PROMOTION TO CLASS 10 - ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT - REGULATION 21 OF THE ORISSA EDUCATION CODE - MINIMUM ATTENDANCE PERCENTAGE - INTERPRETATION - COURT'S DECISION.
Fact of the Case:
Petitioner, a student of George High School, Bargarh, challenged the school's decision not to promote him to Class 10 due to insufficient attendance in Class 9 (59.2%). He argued that there was no statutory requirement for a minimum percentage of attendance for promotion.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that Regulation 21 of the Orissa Education Code requires a student to attend school for not less than 66% of the working days in each of Classes 9 and 10. This attendance requirement is linked to eligibility to appear at the High School Certificate Examination.
Issues: 1. Whether there is a statutory requirement for a minimum percentage of attendance for promotion from Class 9 to Class 10? 2. Whether the petitioner's attendance of 59.2% in Class 9 meets the minimum attendance requirement?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. Regulation 21 of the Orissa Education Code requires a student to attend school for not less than 66% of the working days in each of Classes 9 and 10. 2. The petitioner's attendance of 59.2% in Class 9 does not meet the minimum attendance requirement.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the petition, holding that the school's decision not to promote the petitioner to Class 10 was justified.
Based on the provided legal document, the key points are as follows:
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The regulation governing attendance requirements for students in Classes 9 and 10 is Regulation 21 of the Orissa Education Code (!) (!) . This regulation mandates that students must attend at least 66% of the working days in each class to be eligible to appear for the High School Certificate Examination (!) .
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The attendance percentage is calculated based on classes held up to the test examination for Class 10 (!) .
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The regulation allows for certain relaxations in attendance for special reasons, such as health issues or extraordinary circumstances, which may be condoned up to a maximum of 6% (!) .
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The petitioner attended only 59.2% of the classes in Class 9, which is below the minimum required 66% attendance (!) (!) .
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There is no statutory provision explicitly requiring a minimum percentage of attendance for promotion from Class 9 to Class 10, but attendance is linked to eligibility to appear at the examination (!) (!) .
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The petitioner argued that there is no statutory requirement for minimum attendance for promotion and that he had performed well academically, with 112 marks secured in the annual examination (!) (!) .
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The school and authorities maintained that the petitioner’s attendance was insufficient and thus he was not eligible for promotion or to appear at the examination (!) (!) .
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The regulation permits students who have not met attendance requirements to make up attendance by attending classes with students of Class 9, but only if they have attended sufficiently in the first place (!) (!) .
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The court held that the attendance requirement is a statutory condition for eligibility to sit for the examination and that the petitioner’s attendance did not meet this requirement (!) .
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The court dismissed the petition, upholding the authorities’ decision not to promote the petitioner to Class 10 due to inadequate attendance (!) .
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The decision emphasizes that the attendance requirement is a mandatory statutory criterion, and failure to meet it cannot be overlooked even if other academic performance is satisfactory (!) .
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The court clarified that there is no provision allowing students to compensate for attendance shortfalls in Class 10 by attending classes with students of Class 9 after the test examination, reinforcing the importance of meeting attendance requirements in the respective classes (!) .
These points collectively demonstrate that attendance requirements are statutory conditions linked to examination eligibility and promotion decisions, and failure to meet these criteria justifies the denial of promotion in this case.
JUDGMENT :
A. Pasayat, J. - Petitioner, a student of George High School, Bargarh, has prayed for a direction to the said institution to promote him to Class 10 notwithstanding the fact that his attendance was 59.2% in Class 9 for which he was not granted promotion.
2. The petitioner's case in short is that he has secured 112 marks in the Annual Examination, 1993 and students securing less marks than him have been promoted, and on the sole ground of having attended 59. 2% of the total classes, he should not have been detained in Class 9 and should have been promoted to Class 10. It is submitted that there is no bar for such promotion as there is no statutory prescription that a student should attend a minimum percentage of classes before he is promoted to next Class while in School. The learned counsel for Board of Secondary Education (in short, the 'Board') submitted that there is no provision in the Regulations of the Board of Secondary Education, Orissa (in short, the 'Regulations') relating to promotion of a student from Class 9 to Class 10 and the Board has nothing to do with inter-class promotion.
The institution has, however, taken the stand that a student is not permitted to appear at the examination unless he is certified to have the requisite attendance in both Classes 9 and 10.
3. The petitioner places reliance on Regulation 8 (a) and states that since there is a provision for making up attendance by attending classes with the students of Class 9, there can be no impediment in the petitioner attending classes in Class 9 while he was in Class 10, Sub-rule (20) of Rule 285 of the Orissa Education Code is also referred to by the learned counsel for petitioner to contend that promotion from a class shall be determined by the Headmaster. Absence of any specific provision relating to attendance is highlighted to submit that it cannot be a ground to deny promotion.
4. Regulation 6 of Chapter X. Section I of the Regulation deals categories of student? who are to appear at the High School Certificate Examination and Regulation 6 (a) deals with regular students i.e., candidates who have satisfactorily prosecuted a regular course of study in Classes 9 and 10 at one or more high schools recognised by the Board, and who have been duly sent up for the Examination by the institution in question. Section II of Chapter X deals with regulations for regular, ex-regular and quasi-regular candidates. Minimum requirement eligibility to appear at the examination have been set out in various clauses. In this section requisite attendance aspect is provided in Regulation 21. The said Regulation stipulates that application forms of all regular candidates should contain certificates of attendance stating that the candidate has attended school for not less than 66% of the working days in each of the Classes 9 and 10, and the attendance for Class 10 is to be based on classes held till the test examination. Regulation 8 of Section I of Chapter X deals with categories of students who are eligible to appear at the supplementary High School Certificate Examination. Regulation 8 (a) deals with Supplementary regular candidates. The relevant provision reads as follows ;
"3. The following categories of candidates are eligible to appear at the Supplementary High School Certificate Examination.
(a) Regular candidates ;
(b) (i) and
(ii) xxx xxx xxx
(iii) Those who could not complete the attendance requirement provided they attend further classes with the students of Class 9 till the end of the school session and complete the attendance required ;
(iv) xxx xxx xxx."
5. In order to appreciate rival submissions it is necessary to refer to Clause 6 (a) of Sec. I and Regulations 21, 22, and 23 of Sec. II which are relevant for our purpose. So far as relevant, they read as follows :
"6 The High School Certificate Examination shall be open to the following categories of candidates.
(a) Regular candidates, that is, candidates who have satisfactorily prosecuted a regula
