Child Pursuing Elementary Education Entitled To Be Admitted To Age-Appropriate Class Despite Non-Production Of Transfer Certificate: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court recently ruled that no child pursuing their elementary education should be denied admission to an age-appropriate class merely on the ground that they failed to produce a Transfer Certificate. 

Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. thereby directed a school to grant admission to the petitioners, a group of 12-year old students, to the 7th standard forthwith without insisting on the production of transfer certificates from their previous school. 

Background: 

The petitioners were pursuing their 5th standard at ALP School Kottassery when the pandemic struck and the schools were shut down. 

Hence, they were forced to learn most of the 6th standard subjects through VICTERS (Versatile ICT Enabled Resource for Students), an edutainment channel operated by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education under the Department of General and Higher Education. Their parents also assisted them in their homeschooling endeavours.

Since ALP School only had classes till the 5th standard, they procured a Transfer Certificate and approached SJH School Puthukkode seeking admission to the 7th standard. 

However, they were not admitted, and their applications were forwarded to the District Education Officer who took no action whatsoever in the matter. Aggrieved by the same, they moved the Court. 

They produced their birth certificates to prove that they had attained the requisite age to secure admission in the 7th standard. 

Relevant Findings:

The Court noted that it was undisputed that all the petitioners had completed their 5th standard education and their transfer certificates were issued by the ALP School. 

The fact that no classes were held in schools in the State during the academic year 2020-2021 owing to the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic was also undisputed. 

As such, there were two questions before the Court:

1) Can the right of a child pursuing elementary education to get admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age be denied on the ground of non-production of a Transfer Certificate?

The  Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was enacted to provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years.

Under Section 2(f) of the Act, "elementary education" means the education from first class to eighth class. 

Section 4 of the Act provides for special provisions for children not admitted to, or who have not completed elementary education and lays down that such children shall be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age. 

"Section 4 of the Act comes to the rescue of a child who either has not been admitted to any school or a child who though admitted was not able to complete his or her elementary education. The provision provides that the child shall be admitted to a class appropriate to his or her age. The statute also mandates that the said child, who has been so admitted, has the right to receive special training so that he or she can be at par with the other children in the same class. The said child shall also be entitled to free education till the completion of elementary education even after 14 years."

Similarly, the Court noted that Rule 5 of Kerala Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2011 had provided the manner in which special training has to be imparted to the child who has been inducted into the age-appropriate class and that the child shall continue to receive special attention to enable him to integrate, emotionally and academically with the rest of the class.

2) Will the provisions of the Kerala Education Rules which insists on the production of Transfer Certificate for admission to schools stand in the way of the implementation of the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009?

Rule 6 of Chapter VI of the KER insists that no pupil shall be admitted to any school other than Standard I without the production of a Transfer Certificate.

Article 21A of the Constitution provides that the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6-14 years. It was with a view to give effect to Article 21A that the Parliament enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

Relying on Kerala Aided L.P. & U.P. School Managers Association vs. State of Kerala [ILR 2016(1) Kerala 590], the Court reiterated:

"In view of the peremptory provisions of Act 35 of 2009 which enables the child to secure admission in an age-appropriate class without any restrictions whatsoever, the conflicting provisions in the Kerala Education Rules will have to fall by the wayside in view of Article 254 of the Constitution."

Accordingly, the writ petition was allowed. 

The petitioners were represented by Advocates Ravi Krishnan, K.J. Manu Raj and K. Vinaya while Government Pleader Reshmita R. Chandran appeared for the respondents. 

Click Here To Read/Download The Order