Key Points

Justice Anoop Dhand recently made the observation while hearing petitions filed by two Kota-based private schools and their students.

In a significant move, the court directed the CBSE, the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, and the state government to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and carry out surprise inspections of schools and coaching centers in the state. If students are found enrolled in schools but attending coaching classes during school hours, the court ordered that action be taken against both institutions involved.

"The State of Rajasthan and all the boards are directed to constitute Special Investigating Teams (SITs) to carry out sudden and random inspections of all the schools and the coaching centres and in case, the students are found absent in such schools and simultaneously, they found present in the coaching centres during the school hours, then appropriate strict action be taken against all the stakeholders, including the schools and the coaching centres in accordance with law," the court said.

It also noted that moving students away from schools to coaching centres adversely affects academics. The bench said students should not be permitted to appear in board examinations if their studies are found to be disrupted mid-session.

"There are numerous schools offering dummy admissions from classes 9 to 12, allowing students to skip school and attend coaching for competitive exams like NEET and JEE during school hours.

This practice, with parental consent in many cases, has turned education into a commercial enterprise," the court observed.

Justice Dhand emphasised that the nexus between dummy schools and coaching institutes is degrading the integrity of the education system, and stressed the need for mandatory attendance regulations for students in grades 9 through 12.

Earlier inspections by the CBSE at two schools in Kota revealed multiple violations. The Board found that the schools had admitted dummy students, manipulated records, and failed to maintain the required teacher-student ratio.

As a result, the CBSE revoked the senior secondary affiliation of both schools for one year.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate R.B. Mathur, representing the schools, argued that the CBSE had only fined another institution for similar deficiencies, whereas these two schools faced harsher penalties. T

aking note of the argument, the High Court directed the CBSE to ensure that any action taken should be in accordance with established norms and uniformly applied.

The court also instructed the CBSE not to transfer the affected students to other schools during the ongoing academic session.

- IANS