Allahabad HC rules RTE Act fully applies to private unaided schools

Private unaided schools are fully bound by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the Allahabad High Court has ruled, reaffirming that the no-detention policy applies uniformly across all schools.

The decision was delivered by Justice Pankaj Bhatia of the Lucknow bench while hearing a petition filed by two students, aged 11 and 14, from a private ICSE-affiliated school in Lucknow.

The students had been denied promotion for the 2024–25 academic year due to low attendance and poor academic performance.

Their father challenged the decision, arguing that it violated Section 16 of the RTE Act, which prohibits schools from detaining or expelling students before they complete elementary education.

The petition also cited Article 21-A of the Constitution, which guarantees every child’s right to education.

The school, however, claimed that the RTE Act did not entirely apply to private unaided institutions and that only the 25% reservation rule under Section 12(1)(c) was mandatory.

It also justified its decision by pointing to the students’ inadequate attendance record.

Rejecting these arguments, the High Court ruled that the entire RTE framework applies equally to all schools, including unaided ones.

Justice Bhatia cited the Supreme Court’s 2012 judgment in “Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan v Union of India,” which upheld the RTE Act’s constitutional validity for both aided and unaided institutions.

The court further held that internal school policies or those of any examination board cannot supersede provisions enacted by Parliament.

Justice Bhatia noted that since the Uttar Pradesh government has not issued any notification under Section 16(3) to modify the no-detention clause, it remains fully applicable.

Finding the school’s action unlawful, the bench directed the immediate readmission of both students.

The younger child is to be promoted to Class VI after a retest within two months, while the elder will continue in Class IX, as his academic details have already been submitted to the ICSE board.

The judgment reinforces that the RTE Act guarantees uninterrupted education to every child and that no school, regardless of its management structure, can deny or disrupt that right.