Minority school knocks HC door on RTE Act

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered notice to the State on a writ petition filed by a minority school from Tirunelveli challenging the provisions of the Right to Education Act  (RTE Act).S S Hasan Aboobacker (65), correspondent of Rehmania Higher Secondary School in Tirunelveli district, told the court through his counsel M Ajmal Khan that certain provisions of the Act were in violation of Article 30 (to protect rights of minorities) of the Constitution.The school is registered as a minority institution since 1980. Claiming that the impugned provisions of the Act intervened in the administrative and the managerial functions of the school, the petitioner said the provisions violated his right to administer the minority institution guaranteed under Article 30(i) of  Indian Constitution. Section 29 of the RTE Act prescribe curriculum and requires the medium of instruction to be in the child’s mother tongue. According to the petitioner, this provision violates his right to impart religious education and preserve a unique cultural identity.Likewise, challenging Rule 15 (which allows schools to use property only for education) , the petitioner said it violated his rights to deal with the property of the institution. “The provisions of the RTE Act which requires students from neighbourhood to be admitted violates the rights of the institutions to admit students of their choice,” the petitioner stated.The petitioner prayed that the court restrains the Union Ministry of HRD, State government and the Tamil Nadu School Education Department from implementing the impugned provisions.