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The plea states that "people have a right to know why a child friendly Bill has not seen the light of the day even after 7 years of its unanimously passing from the Delhi Assembly in 2015".
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking directions to expedite the finalization process of the Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015, so far as it relates to the prohibition of screening procedure in the matter of admission of tiny tots at preprimary level (nursery/pre-primary) in schools.
The plea highlights that the very objective and purpose of the Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015 is to protect tiny tots from exploitation and unjust discrimination in the matter of nursery admission in private schools which is literally defeated by delay in finalizing the same by Central and Delhi Government and making it a law.
The PIL filed by NGO namely, Social Jurist, a Civil rights group alleges that private schools have been adopting the unethical practice of subjecting children 3+ age to screening procedures. It states that a child-friendly Bill, namely, Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015, banning screening procedures in Nursery admission in schools is hanging between the Central and Delhi Governments for the last 7 years without any justification and is against the public interest and opposed to public policy.
“Right to Education Act, 2009, prohibits screening procedures in the matter of admission of a child in a school and makes it offence punishable under the law. However, the Act, does not apply to children below 6 years of age and so does not apply to nursery class admissions”, it states.
The plea further states that the admission criteria being adopted by the private schools are a screening procedure in terms of Section 2 (o) of the RTE Act, 2009 which is prohibited and punishable under Section 13 of the RTE Act, 2009.
“People have a right to know why a child friendly Bill has not seen the light of the day even after 7 years of its unanimously passing from Delhi Assembly in 2015”, the plea reads.
The matter is listed for hearing tomorrow before the bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.
Case Title: Social Jurist, A Civil Rights Group v. Government of NCT of Delhi & Ors.
Statue: Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015; Right to Education Act, 2009
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