The court said, "We hold that the guidelines issued by

government of India and the order issued by government of NCT of Delhi under the RTE Act do not apply to 75 per cent of the admission made to pre-elementary (pre-primary and pre-school) classes by private unaided schools, though they do apply to the remaining 25 per cent admissions made by such schools to such classes ..." Though the bench allowed Centre's plea that the RTE Act does not apply, it sought an amendment to bring the nursery admission also under the ambit of the legislation to ensure equal opportunity for toddlers. "Though we have held that Right to Education Act is not applicable to nursery schools, in our opinion there cannot be any different yardstick to be adopted for education to children up to the age of 14 years irrespective of the fact that it applies to only elementary education. "It is the right time for the government to consider the applicability of Right to Education Act to the nursery classes as well, as in many of the states admissions are made right from the nursery classes and the children so admitted are automatically allowed to continue from class-I. "In that sense, the provisions of Section 13 would be rendered meaningless insofar as it prohibits screening procedure at the time of selection," it said. Parting with the judgement, the bench said, "It is common knowledge that though there is obligation on the state to provide free and compulsory education to children and the corresponding responsibility of the institution to afford the same, educational institution cannot be allowed to run as 'teaching shops' as the same would be detrimental to equal opportunity to children." The bench said it hoped that the government would take its observations in "right spirit" and "act" to amend the law to bring nursery education under the ambit of RTE Act.