Srinagar, Nov 22: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh closed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking implementation of The Right to Education (RTE) Act in J&K in letter and spirit, and waiver of tuition fee or bus fare charged from the parents by any educational institute for the period of August 2019 onwards, owing to the lockdown due to abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul disposed of a PIL after the Additional Advocate General (AAG), M.A Chashoo informed that the grievances of the petitioner stand settled by the formation of Committee for Fixation of Fee Structure of Private Educational Institutions, J&K.
He submitted that the committee is issuing orders from time to time to regulate the matters within its ambit and the committee is providing hearings to the various parent bodies as also the School associations.
Disposing of the plea, the court said that the grievance, if any, of any of the individual parents can be addressed by approaching the said committee or government.
Earlier, a PIL was filed by advocate Sheikh Umar Farooq in November 2019 stating that the government should implement the Right to Education Act in letter and spirit in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It stated that the right to free education is an essential sovereign function of the welfare state.
The plea further stated that due to the unprecedented situation in J&K post-July 2019, private schools remained non-functional due to one reason or another.
“Most of the schools in J&K have started pressuring parents to pay full monthly payments, including tuition fees, bus fees, and other incidental charges,” it said.
It was submitted in the plea that despite the fact that none of the aforesaid facilities have been utilised by school children, the parents are being told to pay the tuition fee. “This despite the fact that their children have not been taught by teachers during the period these remained closed,” it contended.
The petitioner had prayed that the authorities including the Chief Secretary, UT of J&K, Commissioner Secretary, Education Department, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, and the Director, School Education, Kashmir, be directed to ensure that no tuition fee, bus fee, or any other incidental fee is charged from the students by any educational institutions in J&K from August 2019 onwards till resumption of normal class work.
