Minority issue: HC seeks response from Chandigarh admn on school’s plea
St Kabir has approached the court demanding that it be allowed to take admissions as per regulations for minority schools
The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) on Monday sought response from Chandigarh administration on St Kabir Public School’s plea asking court to allow it to conduct admissions as per regulations for minority schools under which they are not bound to reserve 25% seats for the economic weaker section (EWS) students. The HC has asked UT administration to respond by November 29.
It was in February 2018 that the HC had stayed National Commission For Minority Educational Institutes’ (NCMEI) decision to grant Sikh minority status to St Kabir Public School, Sector 26. The Chandigarh administration had approached the HC against the commission’s decision taken in September 2014. However, in May 2019, the HC had allowed the school to conduct admissions as per minority institute for academic session 2019-20 as one time measure.
As the issue is yet to be decided by the HC, the school has again approached the court demanding that it be allowed to take admissions as per minority for academic sessions 2020-21.
The city has 82 private schools, 22 out of which are minority schools. Only two schools have got a no-objection certificate from the UT administration out of the 11 that opted for the status after 2010. There has been spurt for minority status after directions of the apex court in 2012, which had ruled that the minority schools are not bound to reserve 25% of their seats in entry level classes for children from economically weaker and disadvantaged backgrounds under Right to Education (RTE) Act.
In August 2018, the Punjab and Haryana HC single judge bench had ruled against minority status obtained by Vivek High School, Sector 38. The judgment came on the petition of Chandigarh administration’s education department. The matter is still under consideration before a division bench.