BENGALURU: The High Court on Tuesday passed an interim order restraining the Education Department from sending children for admissions to LKG and UKG next year to schools run by members of the Associated Managements of Government-recognised English-medium Schools in Karnataka (KAMS).
Hearing a petition filed by KAMS, which has 1,500 school managements from across the state as members, Justice Anand Byrareddy issued notice to the Principal Secretary, Department of Primary and Secondary Education, and the commissioner and director of the Department of Public Instruction.
Advocate G R Mohan, representing KAMS, argued that Section 2(f) of the RTE Act stipulates elementary education as Class 1 to 8, not LKG and UKG.
“The authorities cannot insist that the members of the Association adhere to the RTE Act, as they are governed by the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, with effect from June 1, 1995. The said Act has not been repealed by the Central Act”, he said.
He further argued that KAMS has already complained that authorities are using different yardsticks and instead of reimbursing Rs15,698 per child, they are paying only Rs11,848.