Close on the heels of a controversy over schoolchildren having to wait for long by the roadside to receive the bus carrying Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues earlier this week in Kannur, the Kerala High Court on Friday issued an interim order against making children attend the ongoing Navakerala Sadas.
The court had earlier barred school buses from being deployed for the event soon after the government issued a circular seeking their deployment.
Justice Devan Ramachandran warned Principals and headmasters against making children attend programmes that were not part of the academic curriculum. The Kerala Education Act and rules did not permit children being told to attend any such non-academic activity, he said, referring to reports of children being forced to attend the event.
The right to education is a constitutionally protected right of all children and it is the duty of educational authorities to protect this right, rather than make them attend non-educational activities, the court said on a petition filed by P.K. Navas, State president of the Muslim Students Federation, challenging a directive by the Deputy Director of Education, Malappuram.
It is evident that Deputy Directors, who ought to ensure welfare of children in schools under them, exceeded their powers while directing school students to attend the programme. Thought has to be given whether they would send their children to attend such programmes.
On its part, the government informed the court that children were not required to participate in the Navakerala Sadas. The court posted the case for hearing on November 27.
