By Kanu Sarda, IANS,
New Delhi : They are young, they are raring to study and no one’s going to stop them! Eight students in Delhi have just won a legal battle against various government schools for denying them admission.
Six of the youngsters had filed one petition while two others had filed another in the Delhi High Court earlier this month. The schools Friday agreed to give admission to all the eight and submitted their reply in the court.
Vipin Chandra Pal Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Babarpur had denied admission to two girls, Naazneen and Nasara, on the ground they were over 18 years old.
Lawyer Ashok Agarwal, who appeared for the girls, submitted before the court that the school could not decline admission merely because they had crossed 18 years.
“I have come across many such cases wherein government schools have refused to give admission to the students on one pretext or the other. But with these students winning their legal battle, a message has gone in society that the right to education is undoubtedly full of difficulties but it is not impossible,” Agarwal told IANS.
He also added he was conscious of the fact that it was not easy for every student or parent to approach a court of law.
“They cannot afford to pay any money for litigation. So to make it easy, we need dedicated lawyers who can come forward and take up their cause in courts of law without charging any money on any account.”
Six others – Mamta, Kiran, Reena, Pushpa, Niraj and Abhishek – had approached various Delhi schools for admission in different classes but they were allegedly denied permission. Thanks to their petition, they are to get seats now.
Kiran, who wanted admission to Class 7, was denied on the ground that she had studied in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and the transfer certificate had not been countersigned by the authorities there.
“I am happy that finally my dream of studying will be fulfilled. My admission was denied for a clerical error which is not my fault; then why is my education suffering? I was a topper in my previous school and will try to perform here as well,” Kiran told IANS.
Niraj, Abhishek, Reena, Pushpa and Mamta had failed to pass a subject in Class 10, but they cleared their compartment – or repeat – examination. Yet they were denied admission to Class 11 in a government school in north Delhi.
“It is not fair on the part of the school authorities to deny us admission at an important juncture of our lives. A student takes a new course of life after one clears the Class 10 exam; the authorities should realise the importance of education,” Reena told IANS.
The students then moved the court, saying the right to education was their fundamental right.