HC vacates stay on RTE admissions for LKG, UKG in private schools

The High Court on Monday vacated the stay which had restrained the State government from sending children for admission under the 25 per cent quota as per the RTE Act to LKG and UKG in schools which are members of the Associated Managements of Government Recognised English Medium Schools in Karnataka (KAMS). 

Justice A S Bopanna passed the order, hearing the application filed by the government for vacating the stay. The bench, in the order, said that if the court allowed the stay to continue, it will not just affect the admissions to LKG and UKG, but also jeopardise admissions for class I in future. As the contentions are with regard to the admission for children from underprivileged sections of the society, the petitioner schools have to admit the children, it said. 

The KAMS has 1,500 member schools and has approached the court seeking directions to restrain the Department of Primary and Secondary Education and the Department of Public Instruction from sending children for admission to LKG and UKG under the 25 per cent quota as per the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, for 2016-2017 to schools under KAMS.

The government, in its application, said that KAMS had not disclosed complete details of the sections of the Act and that there were proviso to include children for pre-school education in schools which had the facility. The counsel for the government stated that the government prepares the list to send students under RTE, only if the said private school has the facility for LKG and UKG. The bench vacated the stay, keeping the main petition pending.

K Anand, Director, Primary Education, Department of Public Instruction, said that a calendar of events for allocation of reserved seats under the RTE quota would be drawn very soon after a discussion with the officials concerned.

Translators in HC

The High Court on Monday sought to know from the State government the reason for not filling nine posts of translators. The matter cropped up when Justice Raghavendra S Chauhan was hearing a petition filed by Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi.

The court noted that due to non-availability of translators, the bench was forced to put the burden of furnishing translated documents on the advocates. The bench said that the Chief Justice had passed a special order and the court cannot proceed further in the case without translated copies. Advocate General Madhusudan R Naik sought more time to translate the documents. The court adjourned the matter to January 21.