Ismat Kaur vs Union of India and Others

Rakesh Kumar Jain, J.—The petitioner was studying in Class VIII in Chandigarh as a regular student in the year 2011. The real brother of

the father of the petitioner, living in United States of America (USA), suffered acute heart problem and was advised an emergency surgery. He was

admitted in John Muir Medical Centre, 2540 East St., Concord, CA, USA but there was no family member at his side at that time. Thus, father of

the petitioner went to USA along with the petitioner and her minor brother and due to prolonged treatment of the brother of the father of the

petitioner, she got admission in class IX in Benjamin N. Cardozo High School at USA as a regular student along with her minor brother. The

petitioner secured 90.4% marks in class IX and came back to India on 30.06.2013 with her parents after completion of treatment of her uncle.

She approached respondent No. 5 for seeking admission in Class X on the basis of certificate issued by her school in USA. Respondent No. 5

asked her to obtain the certificate from Association of Indian Universities to certify the fact that the education of class IX acquired by the petitioner

in USA is equivalent to seeking admission in Class X in a school in India. The Association of Indian Universities observed that ""in this connection,

we would like to inform you that 12 year High School Diploma awarded by the accredited schools in US and world over has been equated with

+2 stage qualification of an Indian Board. Once the higher qualification are recognized the lower one are automatically accepted. Since you are

seeking admission in Grade 10 in a school in India, for which you are eligible. The school may provide admission on the basis of marks obtained

by you/Admission Test"". The petitioner then formally applied for admission in Class X in respondent No. 5-school who applied to respondent No.

3 seeking clarification as to whether they could admit the petitioner in their school as she has not studied Chemistry and Physics in Class IX and

also does not have the record of FA''s of Class IX. It was also asked that if the answer of respondent No. 3 is ""Yes"", then what is the procedure

to be followed. In reference to this letter dated 05.08.2013, respondent No. 3 wrote a letter dated 02.09.2013 to respondent No. 5 informing that

the Competent Authority of the Board has considered their request for admission in respect of the petitioner, subject to the following conditions:--

That the school would be responsible for verification about the genuineness of the documents at the time of admission as per CBSE Examination

Bye-Laws.

That the subject offered by the candidates should be as per the prescribed scheme of studies of the Board and the school stands affiliated for

the subject offered by the candidate and regular classes are being held for these subjects as per examination byelaws.

In case the student is already registered in class IX from a CBSE affiliated school, there is no need to register the candidate again. The previous

CBSE class 9th registration No. of the student will continue.

Permission of admission is granted subject to the strength section should be not exceed as per affiliation letter issued by the board and should be

followed the same in any manner.

It must be ensured by the school that the candidate has passed class IX. The result of FAs/SAs subject wise marks (is required in r/o

candidates) only who has passed class IX from CBSE affiliated school and FAs/SAs is not required if the candidate(s) has passed class IX from

other than CBSE Board) are available with the school. In case at any later stage a 9th class fail candidate is found to have been promoted/admitted

in class X, besides canceling the candidature of the concerned candidate strict disciplinary action against the school would also be initiated.

It is alleged by the petitioner that she fulfills all the conditions mentioned in the letter dated 02.09.2013 but respondent No. 5 did not grant

admission without any rhyme or reason and ultimately filed the present petition for a direction to respondent No. 5 to admit her in Class X as a

regular student in terms of the letter dated 02.09.2013 issued by respondent No. 3.

After notice, reply has been filed on behalf of respondent No. 5 alleging that it is an Unaided Private Minority Educational Institution in which the

petitioner cannot seek admission as a matter of right. She was a student of Strawberry World School, Chandigarh prior to leaving for USA and

has been studying throughout under the ICSE Board. In the letter dated 05.08.2013, respondent No. 5 stated that the name of the petitioner was

not registered in Class IX under the CBSE and she has not passed Class IX in USA under the ICSE Board. The CBSE, vide its letter dated

02.09.2013, laid down the conditions under which a student could be admitted in Class X.

Counsel for respondent No. 5 has further submitted that as per letter dated 02.09.2013, the petitioner has to fulfill all the conditions before she

could be offered admission which includes the subject offered by the candidates should be as per the prescribed scheme of studies of the Board

and the school stands affiliated for the subject offered by the candidate and regular classes are being held for these subjects as per examination

byelaws. On this premise alone, counsel for the respondents have pointed out that the scheme of studies for Class X is as under:--

Scheme of Studies

Part-1: Academic Performance: Scholastic Areas:--

(a) Scheme of Studies- A candidate is required to study:

Language 1: English or Hindi,

Language II (any Language other than Language

I), Mathematics,

Science and

Social Science.

Additional Subject (Optional): Any Language other than Language I/II Commerce, Painting, Music, Home Science and Fundamental of

Information Technology.

(b) Candidate with Learning disabilities may offer:

English or Hindi and any four out of-Mathematics, Science, Social Science, other one/two language(s), Commerce, Painting, Music, Home

Science and Fundamental of Information Technology.

Each academic year has been divided into two terms: First Term: FA1 (10%) + FA2 (10%) + SA1(30%) : 50% Second Term: FA3 (10%) +

FA4 (10%) + SA2(30%) : 50%

(a) To qualify in a subject under Scholastic Areas, a candidate must obtain minimum of Grade D. (b) Those candidates who have obtained

Grade E1 or E2 in the subjects under Scholastic Areas shall have to improve their performance to qualify the subject(s).

In respect of candidates offering an additional 6th subject, the following norms shall apply:-A language offered as an additional subject may

replace a language in the event of a candidate not qualifying in the same provided after replacement the candidate has English or Hindi as one of the

languages.

A candidate must obtain minimum of Grade D in all the subjects under Scholastic Areas excluding additional 6th subject as per Scheme of

Studies for admission in Class X.

Part-2 Co-Scholastic Areas (Skills and Suggestive Activities):

2(A) Life Skills:

(B) Work Education:

Cookery Skills, Preparation of stationery items, Tying and dyeing and screen printing, Recycling of paper, Hand embroidery, Running a book

bank, Repair and maintenance of domestic electrical gadgets, Computer operation and Maintenance, Photography etc.,

(C) Visual and Performing Arts:

Music (Vocal, Instrumental), Dance, Drama, Drawing, Painting, Craft, Sculpture, Puppetry, Folk Art forms etc.

(D) Attitude and Values towards:

Teachers, School-mates, School Programmes & Environment and Value Systems

Part-3 Co-Scholastic Activities:

3(A) Suggestive activities (Any two to be assessed):

Literary & Creative Skills:

Debate, Declamation, Creative Writing, Recitation, Essay Writing, Poster-Making, Slogan Writing etc.

Scientific Skills:

Science Club, Projects, Maths Club, Science Quiz, Science Exhibition, Olympaids, etc.

Information and Technology (ICT):

PowerPoint Presentation, Website and Cover Page Designing, Communication, Animation,

Programming, E-books etc.

Organizational & Leadership Skills (Clubs):

Eco Club, Health & Wellness Club, Disaster Management Leadership Skills Club, AEP and other Clubs.

3(B) Health and Physical Activities (Any two to be assessed):

Sports/Indigenous sports (Kho-Kho etc.)

NCC/NSS

Scouting and Guiding

Swimming

Gymnastics

Yoga

First Aid

Gardening/Shramdaan

Overall performance of the candidate is based on the achievement in the Scholastic Areas as well as Co-Scholastic Areas and Co-Scholastic

Activities as follows:

Under Scholastic Area Grades have been upgraded to the next higher grade in one or two subjects as per the total Grade Points achieved under

Co-Scholastic Aras 2(A), 2(B) and Co-Scholastic Activities 3(A), 3(B) as given below:

53 to 65 :Grades in two subjects of Scholastic area are upgraded.

40 to 52 :Grade in one subject of Scholastic area are upgraded.

39 and below :No Lip-gradation of Grades in subjects of scholastic area.

Upgradation has been done from lower Grade to higher Grade.

No Grade in the subjects of Scholastic area has been upgraded twice.

The upgraded Grade has been shown with ''**''

Grading System

Scholastic Areas (Grading on 9 point scale)

Co-Scholastic Areas/Activities (Grading on 5 point scale)

According to the counsel for respondent No. 5, the petitioner has studied Spanish language in USA in Class IX and has also done Algebra,

whereas in India, Spanish language is not offered and instead of Algebra, Mathematics is offered. The other subjects are Science and Social

Science in India, whereas in USA, she has been taught Physical Education and Living Environment. Besides the aforesaid difference in subjects,

the petitioner is also required to obtain Formative Assessment (FA) and Summative Assessment (SA) and take part in other Co-Scholastic Areas

(Skills and Suggestive Activities), which is also to be graded as prescribed in the grading system. It is also submitted that as per the Examination

Bye-Law 6.2, in case of a student migrating from foreign country, the eligibility certificate in respect of such a student has to be obtained from the

Board, whereas no such eligibility certificate has been obtained. Further Examination Bye- Laws 7.3 is also referred to, which provides that the

syllabus prescribed at Secondary level is of two years integrated course and no admission shall be taken in Class X directly. However, admission

to Class X in a school shall be open only to such a student who had completed a regular course of study for Class IX from an institution affiliated

to the Board and has completed a regular course of study for Class IX and has obtained minimum Grade D in the five subjects (Excluding the 6th

additional subject) under Scholastic Area A as well as Grades in subjects under Scholastic Area B under the Continuous and Comprehensive

Evaluation Scheme in class IX examination conducted by an institution affiliated to the Board and migrating from/within one city/State to another

only on the transfer of the parent(s) or shifting of their families from one place to another, after procuring from the student the report Book and the

Transfer Certificate duly countersigned by the Board. It is further provided that a student who has completed a regular course of study for class IX

and has passed class IX examination from an institution recognized by/affiliated to any recognized Board in India can be admitted to a school

affiliated to this Board only on the transfer of the parent(s) or shifting of their families from one place to another, after procuring from the student

the mark sheet and the Transfer Certificate duly countersigned by the Educational Authorities of the Board concerned. Notwithstanding anything

contained in the rules above, Chairman shall have the powers to allow change of school for better academic performance, medical reasons etc. to

avoid undue hardship to the candidate(s). In case of all/ oil such admissions, the schools would obtain post facto approval of the Board within one

month of admission of the student.

It is, thus, argued that since the petitioner has not passed class IX from a school affiliated to the Board, she would not be eligible for admission.

In this regard, a decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Regional Officer, C.B.S.E. Vs. Ku. Sheena Peethambaran and Others, has been

relied upon in which the student was seeking admission in class X though she had failed in class IX examination and was not found eligible.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties and after perusal of the record, I am of the considered opinion that the petitioner cannot be granted

admission in respondent No. 5-school. The petitioner has passed her class IX from USA. Her school was not affiliated to the CBSE Board. The

subjects taught in USA in class IX are totally different from the subjects taught in India, which are mentioned here-in-above, and it has been

categorically provided by the Board that the subjects offered by the candidates should be as per the prescribed scheme of studies of the Board

and the school stands affiliated for the subject offered by the candidate and regular classes are being held for these subjects as per examination

bye-laws. This condition is not being fulfilled by the petitioner, therefore, she is not eligible and entitled to for seeking admission. In any case,

counsel for respondent No. 5 has also submitted that the petitioner is not going to loose her one year because as per her own-showing, she is

preparing privately and can appear as a private candidate in Class X examination held by the Punjab School Education Board. In view of the

aforesaid discussion, I do not find any merit in the present writ petition and hence, the same is hereby dismissed.