Unable to Pay Private School’s Fee, Jobless Parents File Writ Petition As Delhi Govt School Denies Admission

Rendered jobless as pandemic morphs into a major economic crisis, Naveen Kumar Jha was forced to discontinue his daughters’ education at a private school as he was unable to pay the school fee. The lawyers have filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court calling the state government school’s response – “illegal, arbitrary, discriminatory, unjust, malafide and immoral.” However, as the case reached the court, the school authorities did not speak but pointed out that no admission can be denied till Class 8 and all admissions are still open. In a video message shared by the advocate- their client Guriya Jha, mother of Sonam Kumari and Suhani Kumari studying in Class 3 and 1 respectively was seen saying, “I was educating my two daughters in a private school but because of Corona and the subsequent job loss of my husband I want to shift them to a government school.” “When I approached earlier the school administration asked me to get the required documents for admissions. However, the writ petition stated that it is directed against the “impugned action on the part of Government of NCT of Delhi, hereinafter referred as respondent Government, whereby the Government has denied admission to the petitioner daughters namely, 8 years old Sonam Kumari and 5 years old Suhani Kumari in classes III and I respectively in Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, hereinafter referred as respondent school, in the academic year 2020-21.” “It is respectfully submitted that despite being poor, the petitioner somehow was managing to pay the fees of the private unrecognized schools but during the lockdown and pandemic they have lost all income whatever it was and were forced to withdraw her daughters from these unrecognized private schools in order to get them admitted in respondent school which is a ‘neighbourhood school’,” said the petition added. Hence, this present petition.” The petition also added, “whether Sonam and Suhani Kumari have the fundamental and legal right in terms of Article 21-A of Constitution of India and Section 3 of RTE Act, 2009 to get admission in neighbourhood school.” For several reasons Jha does not want to send her daughters to an MCD school, one of them she said is the distance, “That school is very far from my residence, which is why I want them to join Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya,” she said.