Kerala High Court order to assess educational needs

Kochi: Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state government to put in place a suitable machinery to determine the educational needs in each district before sanctioning schools.

“Higher secondary courses must be an ongoing exercise that is undertaken by a suitable machinery set up by the state government to monitor the educational need in the state. It may not be out of place to note  that the state government has set up a body to monitor the implementation of the provision of the Right to Free and Compulsory  Education Act,” the  court said. 

Setting up a similar machinery for monitoring the educational need for higher secondary education may not be a cumbersome task. What is important  is  that the state government should adhere to the consistent policy in such matters, ensuring transparency that can be brought about by furnishing timely information as regards the educational need in any areas.

Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar issued the order while disposing of a batch of petitions regarding the sanctioning of higher secondary courses in schools.

The bench observed that the machinery so constituted should determine such educational need on an ongoing basis so that the educational need for any academic year is estimated at least a year in advance.

The court also ordered that before sanctioning higher secondary course, the  state should consider various factors,  especially socially, educationally and economically backward areas in each district.

The court asked the state government to complete the exercise by March 31, 2016 for the net academic year and thereafter, sanction courses based on the education need by March 31 of every succeeding year so that no student  is prejudicially affected in pursuit of his higher secondary education in the state during the academic year 2016-17 or thereafter.