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Journalism of Courage
The Delhi High Court Friday stayed operation of the Delhi government education department’s order imposing a cap on the number of attempts to clear classes IX to XII in its schools, and directed re-admission of two minors immediately.
“Not that students have failed to learn, but teachers have failed to teach,” Justice Rajiv Shakdher remarked while referring to the Delhi government’s Directorate of Education’s circular, by which if students fail in a class for two consecutive years, they cannot be re-admitted to the school.
“The issue needs deeper consideration,” the judge said, listing the matter for further consideration on December 16.
The court was hearing a plea by the father of two children who were denied admission in class IX in the academic year 2019-20 at their school, citing that they had failed twice.
The man, a scrap collector, has through his advocate challenged the constitutional validity of the DoE’s April 2014 and August 2018 circulars, imposing a cap on the number of attempts to clear classes IX-XII.
Agarwal argued that heads of government schools, on the strength of the circulars, “invariably denied re-admission to hundreds of students who failed twice in classes IX to XII, which is illegal and arbitrary and therefore the operation of the same be stayed”.
