Kerala HC Refuses To Stay Online Classes; Refers Parent's Plea To Division Bench [Read Order]

The Kerala High Court has refused to stay the online classes conducted in Kerala.

A parent had approached the High Court seeking a direction to the state government and the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) to stop broadcasting online classes till all state school students are provided with the technological facilities for attending such classes. In her petition, CC Girija, mother of two children, contended that children especially from the remote areas as well as those belonging to ST/SC and economically backward class communities are being discriminated against because they have not been not provided with the facilities to access the virtual classes. Therefore, these should not be continued till all students are provided with the facilities.

The petition came up today before Justice CS Dias who heard it via video conference. The state, through Government pleader, submitted that all the necessary facilities would be provided to students before commencing regular online classes, which the Government hopes to commence by 14.6.2020. The Govt. Pleader said that the online mode is introduced only to ensure that students do not miss out on classes, as regular classes cannot be commenced due to pandemic. Also, the online classes are in a downloadable format, which can be compiled together and shown to students who have missed out on classes, the state submitted.

The court recorded the submission and observed that it does not find any exigency to grant an interim order at this stage.

The Court noted that a writ petition seeking similar relief was referred to a division bench, in view of the "substantial public interest involved". Therefore, this petition was also referred before the division bench.  In its order passed yesterday, the Court had restrained a school from levying additional fees on students for holding virtual classes.

Click here to Read/Download Order

Read Order