T.N. schools should not insist upon transfer certificates from previous institutions to admit students: Madras High Court

In a significant order on Friday, the Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to issue a circular to all school managements across the State instructing them not to insist upon producing Transfer Certificates from the institutions where students had studied earlier, for the purpose of admissions. “In the event of any violation of the order, actions are to be initiated under Section 17 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and the relevant laws applicable for the protection of children,” the judges said, disposing of a writ appeal filed by the State government. The appeal had been preferred in 2021 against a single judge’s order in a writ petition filed by the All India Private Schools Legal Protection Society, which had sought a direction to the government to prevent shifting of schools without obtaining TCs after remitting the due fees during the COVID-19 period. When a private school is established voluntarily to provide education, it cannot put the future of children at stake for monetary reasons.” The Bench said that Section 5 of the RTE Act clearly implies that TC, was not mandatory to gain admission in a school and, hence, production of such a document could not be insisted upon as a sine qua non for admitting a child in a school.