Government, school asked to explain admission denial
By IANSTuesday, April 20, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court has questioned a Kendriya Vidyalaya and the human resource development (HRD) ministry on a petition filed on behalf of a seven-year-old boy, who was denied admission to class 1 on the ground of being “overage”.
Justice Kailash Gambhir gave time till May 6 to the school and the ministry to file their replies.
Ashok Agarwal, counsel for the boy, argued in the court that if the upper age for admission, according to the school, is six years and the child is seven-year-old, does that mean that the child will never be able to study?
“According to the Right to Education (RTE) Act, any child up to the age of 14 cannot be refused access to education,” Agarwal added.
The boy’s father, who wanted to admit his son to the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Rangpuri in southwest Delhi, said: “The school principal told me that my child was overage by one month and two days and, therefore, he was ineligible for admission in class 1 in terms of the guidelines for admission.”
She further told me that a child to be eligible for admission to class 1 must be between five to seven years as on March 31, before the start of the academic year in April, he said.
The petition cited Article 21-a of the Constitution and provisions of the Right to Education Act, which came into force April 1, contending that the act does not prescribe the maximum age for admission in class 1.
The boy’s father said he had sent a notice to the principal requesting reconsideration of his son’s case for admission in class 1 but no response has been received so far.
