Date:02/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/02/stories/2007060204650500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Students may be shifted from defiant schools

Staff Reporter

High Court vacates its stay order of April 29 on derecognition

Court criticises school managements for not filing affidavits

It asks Government to take action against erring schools

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Friday vacated a stay on the derecognition of schools coming under the Karnataka State Private School Managements' Federation and permitted the State Government to withdraw and transfer students from these institutions.

The court passed the order after the federation and several other schools from Hassan which had challenged the language policy of 1994, failed to file an affidavit undertaking to impart education in the medium of instruction in which they had been permitted to operate.

The federation and several other schools had challenged the language policy. They said the State could not have insisted on primary schools to impart education in Kannada medium when the language issue was yet to be decided in the High Court.

On its part, the Government said the schools had given an undertaking promising to teach in the medium of instruction in which they had been permitted to operate. It said more than 2,200 institutions had violated the undertaking and were teaching students in English.

It said a voluntary scheme had been formulated under which schools found violating the norms on the medium of instruction could pay penalty and escape derecognition.

The court had in an interim order on April 29, 2007 stayed till June 4 the notices of derecognition and directed the institutions to file affidavits stating that they would impart education in the medium of instruction in which they had been permitted to operate. The cases had been posted for hearing on June 1.

When the matter came up in the morning, Justice Rammohan Reddy sought to know from the schools on whether they had filed affidavits complying with the court order. When informed that they had not filed affidavits and when other schools sought some time, he posted all the cases for hearing in the afternoon.

When the case was called again, Mr. Justice Reddy said neither the federation nor other schools had filed affidavits as per the Court order.

He vacated an earlier interim order staying the order of derecognition and said it was open to the Government to transfer students from derecognised schools to others.

Lashing out at the institutions for failing to comply with the court order, the Judge again asked the Government to send its Block Education Officers (BEO) to such schools for initiating action against them.