User:Lynchtribe/Dr.Anadalakshmy Versus Government of India, CBSE

Dr.Anadalakshmy Versus Government of India, CBSE

Introduction
The Court case 'Dr.Anadalakshmy Versus Government of India, CBSE' was raised by Dr. Anadalakshmy, Convenor of the Chennai - based Concerned Citizens' Committee as a Public Interest Litigation, seeking to implement the previous decision of the Supreme Court of India, to ensure that all students of class X are given the choice to be admitted to class XI in the same School.

This petition was raised in order to combat the predominant practice amongst leading schools in Chennai, as well as across India, in which students who had completed class XI in the school would often not be granted admission to continue further education in the same school. This denial of admission was often based on the academic credentials of said student.

This practice invoked controversy amongst academia due to the belief that a student having been coached through an educational institution, and having failed to achieve what is deemed to be acceptable results by that institution would be rejected admission, when this supposed failure on the part of the student is equal parts the responsibility of the institution itself. This practice was enforced by some of the leading and most prestigious educational institutions in the city, notably P.S. Senior Secondary School, PSBB and the D.A.V. Boys Senior Secondary School.

With regards to the prevailing system, one of the convenors of the Concerned Citizens' Committee, legal practitioner Dr. V. Suresh, articulately explained, The atrocious practice of denying automatic admission to students who clear the class X boards into class XI in the same school is typical of the rampant commercialization of education. The root cause of this practice is unhealthy competition among CBSE schools to produce the maximum number of toppers in class XII board examinations which would enable them to make lofty claims of being the best schools in the state. Since vacancies were thus artificially created in the higher secondary sections of the best schools, parents were driven to offer donations to get their children into class XI of certain reputed schools in the hope that their wards would become better qualified for admission into prestigious institutions of higher education after class XII

Case Outcome and Legal Ramifactions
On April 27, Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice Chitra Venkataraman upheld this public interest litigation against some prominent CBSE schools in Chennai. The ruling stated that the schools must not consider their own high school (class X) students as fresh candidates for admission into higher secondary school (class XI). The ruling criticized the emerging practice of school managements issuing transfer certificates to class X students and re-admitting some of them on the basis of stipulated cut-off percentages into class XI. The court held this practice is against the rules and admission guidelines stipulated by the Union ministry of human resource development and CBSE. The ruling also stipulated that current students of an institution must be given preference towards admission before new entrants from other institutions.

Critical Clauses of the Verdict
The Court ruling mandated the following rules for schools to adhere to in the future:

a) Admission of a student from class X to class XI within the same school should not be treated as a fresh admission but only as continuation of the original admission done in that school. So issuing transfer certificate to class X students within the same school and readmitting them to class XI is against the rules.

(b) All the students of the same school who have qualified in class X Board examination should be offered admission in class XI as far as possible subject to the availability of seats. Students from other schools may be considered for admission after accommodating the students of their own school.

(c) Every student cannot be given his or her choice of subjects because of the various limitations such as number of seats available, number of sections in class XI etc. However, the choice of students along with their performance in class X Board examination should be considered for allotment of different subjects.

d) No admission test should be conducted by schools for their own students. After admitting their own students if there are still vacancies, they may be filled either on the basis of the class X Board examinations or by conducting an admission test for the students who are from other schools.

e) No school should prescribe any cut off marks for admission to class XI or for allotment of subjects.