Recognition certificate in RTE Act: Centre opposes NGO claim

Government today opposed before Delhi High Court the claim of an NGO that schools owned or controlled by them do not have recognition certificates under the RTE Act like the private ones.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in its submission before a bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini said even the government cannot establish a school unless they fulfill the prescribed norms under the statute.
"The recognised schools are governed by government norms. Why do you (NGO) think that government schools do not follow their own norms....Under law, the schools recognised by the government or established by the government has to comply with the norms under the (RTE) Act," the ministry said.

The ministry was responding to a plea of NGO Independent Thought, which alleged that the exclusion of government schools under Section 18(1) of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act from obtaining a recognition certificate, violated the Constitution.
"Exclusion of schools established, owned or controlled by the appropriate Government or the local authority under Section 18(1) of the RTE Act, 2009 to obtain a certificate of recognition as required under the RTE Act is violative of Articles 14 and 21A of the Constitution...
"...It defeats the aims and objectives of the RTE Act of providing quality education to all children in India. It is, therefore, prayed that part of Section 18(1) of RTE Act is liable to be struck down as unconstitutional," the NGO has said in its petition.

It had told the court that presently section 18 of the Act would show that all schools owned or run by government and/or its agencies have been excluded from the ambit of sections 18 and 19 of the RTE Act.

"The norms and standards elaborated under Section 19 and the Schedule to the RTE Act do not apply to such schools. This exclusion of a large number of schools from the ambit of Sections 18 and 19 of RTE Act is unconstitutional," it said.
The Act, which came into force in April 2010, makes it mandatory for all private schools to seek state government's recognition. The law stipulates that all schools must procure a "recognition certificate" from the government which would be renewable every three years.

Institutions failing to obtain the certificate can be deemed derecognized and heavy fines can also be slapped on them under the provisions of the Act.