RTE Act does not apply to nursery, rules HC

ORDER Schools can continue with admission process; HC says govt must consider extending RTE to nursery.

Ending the uncertainty over the ongoing nursery admission process in private unaided schools of the Capital, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday ruled that the Right to Education Act is not applicable to nursery schools. But the court also said "it is the right time for the government to consider" applying the Act to nursery classes as well.

Disposing PILs filed by NGO Social Jurist and Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, a bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain did not quash the two notifications, which the petitioners claimed had allowed private unaided schools to formulate their own admission criteria.

"We hold that the guidelines issued by the Government of India and the order issued by the Government of NCT of Delhi under Section 35 of RTE Act, 2009, do not apply to 75 per cent of the admission made to pre-elementary (pre-primary and pre-school) classes by private unaided schools, though they do apply to to the remaining 25 per cent admission made by such schools to such classes," the bench said, referring to the 25 per cent reservation for children belonging to the weaker section and disadvantaged group.

"Though we have held that the Right to Education Act is not applicable to nursery schools... there cannot be any different yardstick... for education of children up to the age of 14 years, irrespective of the fact that it applies to only elementary education. It is the right time for the government to consider the applicability of Right to Education Act to the nursery classes as well, as in many of the states admissions are made right from the nursery classes and the children so admitted are automatically allowed to continue from Class I," the bench said.

Last week, the Central government informed the High Court that the Right to Education Act applies only to "elementary education", which is defined in the Act as education from Class I to Class VIII. Provisions of the RTE Act, the government said, are available only to children in the age group 6 to 14 years and do not affect primary education.

In its order, the bench said, "The importance of education is per se applicable to every child, right from admission to nursery classes till it completes the eighth standard." While noting there is obligation on the state to provide free and compulsory education to children and the responsibility of the institution to afford it, the bench said "educational institutions cannot be allowed to run as teaching shops" since that "would be detrimental to equal opportunity to children".

Asking the state not to ignore observations made in the judgment, the bench said the state should consider making necessary amendments that will allow benefits of the Right to Education Act to a child seeking admission in a nursery class.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rte-act-does-not-apply-to-nursery-rules-hc/1076667/0

RTE only for 6-14 age group: Govt

Nursery admission No bar on screening procedure by schools for students below age 6: Govt to HC

The Central government informed the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that the Right to Education Act applies only to "elementary education" which is defined in the Act as education from Class I to Class VIII. Provisions of the RTE, the government said, are available only to children in the age group 6 to 14 years and do not affect primary education.

"There is no bar on a screening procedure by a school for students under six years of age," the government counsel said in response to a specific question put by the bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain.

The government filed an affidavit after it was asked by the High Court whether admission to the nursery class was regulated by the RTE Act.

The High Court has been hearing arguments on a PIL challenging two notifications by the Central government and the Delhi government allowing schools to formulate their own criteria for admission to the nursery class. The admission process has been stalled due to the pendency of the petition. The High Court had remarked that the admission process for 2013-14 could be affected by its final decision on the petition.

The government affidavit stated that "there are certain provisions of the Act, which relate to children below six years and beyond 14 years. These specific provisions, however, are those related to drop-out children and children from economically weaker sections."

The government affidavit also mentions Section 11 of the RTE that speaks about pre-primary education for children above three years of age. The HRD Ministry affidavit says that state governments "may have their own policies governing admissions in pre-primary class".

Additional Solicitor General Rajeeve Mehra also told the court that the Delhi School Education Act and notifications issued under the Act were there to regulate pre-primary education in Delhi.

"The affidavit is quiet on the question raised by the court about the utilisation of Section 13 in the Act. The HRD Ministry passed the buck to the state government to see the applicability in the last paragraph of the affidavit," advocate Ashok Aggarwal said. Court said it will pass its order by next week.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rte-only-for-614-age-group-govt/1073751/0

Hospitals can't deny first response treatment to crime victims: HC

After it was told that accident or rape victims were often denied treatment by private hospitals, which did not want to involve themselves in crime cases, the Delhi High Court on Thursday held that private hospitals must must not turn away emergency patients on such grounds.

The bench comprising Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain issued the orders while hearing a suo motu case. An NGO had previously raised the question of speedy medical aid to victims. The point was raised again by counsel assisting the court, advocate Meera Bhatia.

The court directed Delhi government Principal Secretary, Health, "to issue appropriate directions to all hospitals to attend to all persons who are in dire need of immediate first-aid (or other) medical need due to involvement in some crime".

The court also directed the Commissioner of Police to "issue instructions to all police personnel to take victims to nearest hospital for treatment".

The court also asked police to look into a system of 'SOS' or 'panic button' messages, which could be sent by women from their cellphones to any number of their choice as well as to police.

"There could be some GPS-based system for a PCR van to track the location of the mobile phone from which the SOS message was sent. You could contact NIC or Infosys or TCS to consider this software," the court said.

The court said Mumbai police was using a basic form of a similar system and asked the Delhi Police to "extend and refine" the software.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hospitals-cant-deny-first-response-treatment-to-crime-victims-hc/1067700/