'State's Discretion': Madras High Court Dismisses Plea For Adopting NCERT Syllabus In Govt Schools

Madras High Court has dismissed a writ petition seeking a direction to the state government to adopt the syllabus prescribed by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) for all government schools in Tamil Nadu.

The Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy dismissed the public interest litigation by stating that such discretion is vested with the state government and the court cannot interfere in it.

The petition was dismissed at the stage of admission itself since the litigant couldn't show any legal provisions that mandate the adoption of the NCERT syllabus from elementary school till the completion of higher secondary education.

"Being a policy decision not shown as a violation of any constitutional/ statutory provision, the jurisdiction of this court is limited. It is upon the state government to choose the syllabus or provide its own syllabus. Therefore, the direction sought cannot be granted", the court observed.

The petitioner in the case was one PA Josepph, who claimed to be the leader of the JJ Party which is yet to be registered with the Election Commission.

The petitioner primarily contended that the 'Samacheer Kalvi' syllabus followed in government and government-aided schools in the State made students ill-equipped to clear competitive exams like NEET, JEE etc. as well as for attaining admission in other higher education programs. Samacheer Kalvi was introduced as a part of the Uniform System of School Education under the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act, 2010. The petitioner added that such competitive entrance exams and higher education courses are framed in coherence with the NCERT Syllabus followed by CBSE Schools.

" We can't run the administration. It is the discretion of state government to choose the syllabus", the court orally remarked.

The court also refused to take into account the Allahabad High Court order in Shiv Kumar Pathak & Ors. v. State of U.P & Ors cited by the petitioner.  The court observed that the said judgment has no application to the facts of the case and the paragraphs referred to by the petitioner were court's observations that were not implemented.

"... Petitioner has failed to refer to any provisions of law mandating state government to adopt NCERT Syllabus. Tamil Nadu came out with Samacheer Kalvi Syllabus and the challenge to it was not sustained in the Supreme Court", the court observed.

In 2011, the AIADMK Government had preferred a special leave petition against the implementation of Samacheer Kalvi as per the directions of Madras High Court. This petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court and the common syllabus has been in force since August 2011.

Case Title: P.A Josseph v. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.

Case No: WP/3681/2022 (PIL) 

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 75