CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday stayed the single-judge bench order that had quashed the State government’s notification for merger of schools having very low roll strength.
The notification issued on March 11 by the School and Mass Education department envisaged merger of nearly 16,000 primary schools with upper primary schools.
Justice BR Sarangi’s order had come on May 4 on a batch of 168 petitions filed mostly by management of primary schools which had challenged the notification on the ground that it violated the Odisha Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010.
The government had challenged it by way of a writ appeal claiming that the plan for merger of schools was a policy decision. As the policy decision was not contrary to provisions of Constitution of India, the court’s interference by way of the single judge’s order was not called for, the government contended when the writ appeal was taken up on Tuesday.
After a preliminary hearing, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray issued the interim stay order.
The bench posted the matter to September 14 for further hearing.
While quashing the merger notification on May 4, Justice Sarangi had directed the department to restore the position of the school in question as before and provide necessary infrastructure for smooth functioning of the same.
HC stays order quashing school merger plan
The government had issued the notification for integration of primary, upper primary and high schools with the nearby bigger schools for ensuring fully-functional schools with increase in number of teachers per class and concentrated investment of resources.
According to the notification, schools with students less than 20 to 40 were to be merged with bigger nearby schools.
The notification had claimed that the merger would enable better infrastructure, teacher pupil ratio, academic environment with additional facilities, e-learning and co-curricular facilities for all-round development of students.