Kochi: Private unaided schools across the state should provide 25% reservation to children from socially and economically weaker sections for admission to Class 1, and the schools can approach the government to get reimbursement of the educational expenses spent on them, the Kerala High Court has ordered.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S Mani Kumar and Justice Murali Purushothaman passed the verdict in a petition filed by K P Albert, a native of Vennala in Ernakulam, in 2020, citing that schools were charging high fees despite conducting classes through online mode during the Covid period.
A committee formed by the government should assess the expenditure incurred on each student belonging to the weaker sections, as per the 2013 order, and the government should hand over the same to the school management, as the court directed.
The Kerala Right to Education Act, 2011, stipulates that the government should reimburse the expenses incurred on education upon giving admission to children belonging to the weaker sections. Also, the Right to Education Act, 2009, directs unaided schools to provide admission to children of weaker sections in their vicinity, the bench pointed out.