India: court urges state officials’ children to attend governmental schools
The National Coalition for Education has welcomed the recent judgement of the Allahabad High Court in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh “historic” for urging governmental officials to send their children to governmental school.
The high court ruled on 18 August that all Uttar Pradesh’s government employees, legislators and judicial officers must send their children to government schools in order to improve the education system:
“The state at present has a three-dimensional education system - English medium schools, private schools and government schools - and the government education can improve only if the government servants are made to send their children to these schools.”
The court added that those who do not comply with this order should be ready to face punitive action.
The court also deplored that teacher posts were still vacant in junior and senior basic schools.
“The decision of the Allahabad High Court is a historical judgement,” said Rama Kant Rai of the National Coalition for Education (NCE) National Secretariat on 19 August. “We hope it will make the right to education a reality for all children, and that other states will also go with similar examples.”
The NCE India is a conglomeration of networks working on the right to education, including the Parliamentary Forum for ensuring the right to education, World Vision India, the People's Campaign for Common School System (PCCSS), as well as the following national Education International’s affiliates: the All India Primary Teachers Federation (AIPTF), the All India Federation of Teachers Organisation (AIFTO), the All India Secondary Teacher’s Federation (AISTF), and the All India Association for Christian Higher Education (AIACHE).
