Lucknow, Jul 24 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court on Thursday directed Uttar Pradesh authorities to maintain status quo on the pairing of primary schools in Sitapur till August 21.
The court passed the order as it noticed certain “glaring discrepancies” in pairing of the schools in the district.
A bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh of the Lucknow bench, however, clarified that the grant of interim order had nothing to do with the merit of the policy and its implementation as such.
It passed the interim order on two specials appeals separately filed by Master Nitish Kumar and Dharm Veer through their guardians.
The appeals were filed against the single judge bench order of July 7, whereby it dismissed the writ petitions filed against the state government’s order of June 16 providing pairing of primary schools on the ground of poor strength of students.
The appellants have primarily pleaded that paired schools violate the norm of having a school in the neighbourhood under the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and in violation of Article 21-A of the Constitution.
In the course of hearing, the bench found that the single judge had relied on some documents produced by the state government. As the said documents were not part of record, the state counsel filed them on affidavit. Taking them on record, the bench asked the appellants’ counsel to respond them as well by next hearing.
Meanwhile, passing the interim order, the bench said, “Till the next date, only in respect of district Sitapur, on account of the fact that certain glaring discrepancies have been noticed by the court which are sought to be explained by the respondents, status quo as it exists today, for the implementation of the exercise undertaken by the respondents for pairing of schools shall be maintained.” The bench further clarified its order saying, “We make it clear that, at this point of time, the grant of interim order has nothing to do with the merit of the policy and its implementation as such.” The initiative undertaken by the state government to ‘pair’ schools with low enrolment, is aimed at pooling resources, improving infrastructure, and aligning with the goals of the National Education Policy 2020.
The policy has set in motion the pairing of over 10,000 of the 1.3 lakh government-run primary schools across the state and merging schools with fewer than 50 students into nearby institutions.
The move, however, has been decried by opposition parties. PTI COR KIS ZMN
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