The Supreme Court rejected a plea filed by the government of Maharashtra, which aimed to get an exemption from admitting children belonging to the EWS (Economically weaker section) category. The court backed the decision of the Bombay High Court, as per more reports.
On Friday the apex court stated that the children from the mentioned category have a right to attend good schools and should have the option to do so. The court upheld the decision made by the Bombay High Court, which invalidated an exemption notification by the Maharashtra government.
The February 9 notification, aimed to exempt some private schools from admitting EWS students, located in the 1-kilometre radius of the government or keeping the required 25 per cent of the quota from availing to the “weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood.”
According to the reports, the bench consisted of CJI (Chief Justice of India) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. They stated that when “children studying in these private schools interact with EWS students, they will understand what truly the country is.” The Supreme Court mentioned further that government schools cannot be compared to private schools, no matter how good they become. It added, “Children from the EWS category must attend good schools… Otherwise, they will just live in cocoons of fancy gadgets and cars.”
The Chief Justice of India shared his own experience, revealing he was the first from his family to get admission to an English medium school. Several petitions questioned the notification, citing that it was unconstitutional and went against the provisions of the RTE Act.
Private schools must reserve 25 per cent of the vacancies to the students from the EWS. According to the plea, the notification was a violation of the educational rights of the children. The entry-level Class 1 or the pre-primary section, must reserve seats under the category.
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