Private schools fall under RTI: Court

Times of India: New Delhi: Friday, May 03, 2013.

In a major boost to transparency in school admissions, the Delhi high court has ruled that private unaided schools in the capital will be covered under the RTI Act.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher on Thursday dismissed the challenge by a federation of schools to Central Information Commission (CIC) order asking them to ensure that information regarding admission is made public. HC upheld the order asking schools to display information on total number of seats in a school, total vacancies in all classes, total seats under EWS quota, seats available under the quota, total applications received under the quota, information about when EWS quota applications will be received and date on which the admissions will take place. They have been asked to update the information on a weekly basis.

HC also directed the education director to ensure compliance of the court's directions. The schools however, did get limited relief from the court which agreed to their plea and exempted them from making public budget estimates of receipts, payments of the ensuing year, final accounts and the statement showing disbursement of salaries.