Education matters

Education law in Karnataka draws on three sources at once: the Constitution, which guarantees a child's right to education and protects the right of minorities to run institutions; the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (the RTE Act); and State law, chiefly the Karnataka Education Act, 1983 and the rules made under it. Institutions answer to the school education and higher education departments, to affiliating universities and boards, and to the Karnataka High Court. This page deals with the institution's side and the student's or parent's side of the same disputes. Employment questions that are not specific to teaching are on the Employment page, and general suits are on the Civil disputes page.

The RTE Act

Article 21A of the Constitution makes free and compulsory education a fundamental right for children between six and fourteen years. The RTE Act gives that right its working rules. Under section 18, a school other than one run by government needs a certificate of recognition before it starts, and section 19 with the Schedule sets the norms for buildings, teachers and working days. Section 13 bars capitation fee and any screening procedure for admission. Section 12(1)(c) requires an unaided school to admit, to the extent of 25 per cent of the strength of the entry-level class, children from the weaker section and disadvantaged groups of the neighbourhood and to educate them free until elementary education is complete. Section 12(2) provides for the State to reimburse the school, and reimbursement is a frequent source of dispute. The Supreme Court upheld this provision for unaided non-minority schools in Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan v. Union of India (2012). How the seats are allotted, which class is the entry level and how the neighbourhood is drawn are fixed by the Karnataka rules and the government orders issued for each academic year.

The Karnataka Education Act, 1983

The Karnataka Education Act is the State's general statute for schools and colleges. In outline, it deals with the recognition and regulation of private institutions, grants-in-aid, the conditions of service of employees, the supervision of management, and the powers of the department to inspect and to act on non-compliance. It was brought into force in stages, and the provisions on service of staff of aided institutions and on appeals are the ones most often litigated.

Fee regulation

Fees in private institutions are limited by constitutional decisions and by statute. The Supreme Court in T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka (2002) and P.A. Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra (2005) held that private unaided institutions may fix their fee but may not charge capitation fee or profit from admission, and that the State may set up committees to check against profiteering. Karnataka prohibits capitation fee by the State's law prohibiting capitation fees, and professional courses are governed by admission and fee-determination law and by the fee committee for the course. In schools, the schedule of fees is declared to the department and to parents, and complaints on excess charges, additional charges and refusal of transfer certificates are taken up with the block or district education officer.

Recognition and affiliation

A school needs State recognition to operate, and usually affiliation to a board such as the Karnataka State board, the Central Board of Secondary Education or the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. A college needs affiliation to a university, and may also need approval of a statutory body such as the All India Council for Technical Education or the University Grants Commission. Refusal, conditional grant, withdrawal and inspection reports are the usual causes of dispute. The deciding authority must give reasons and ordinarily a hearing before it withdraws recognition, and the right of appeal, where the Act gives one, comes before a writ petition is considered.

Admissions and examination disputes

An admission decision turns on the notified eligibility, the merit or counselling list, and the reservation policy that applies. A refusal, a cancellation or a seat matrix that departs from the notification can be challenged. Examination disputes cover evaluation, revaluation, results withheld, malpractice charges and detention for attendance. Courts generally decline to re-mark papers and defer to the university or board on academic judgment, but they do examine whether the rules were followed, whether a hearing was given where a penalty was imposed, and whether the decision was arbitrary. Universities and boards run internal grievance and revaluation procedures, and these have to be used within the time they allow.

Service matters of teaching staff

Teachers in aided institutions hold service under the Act and rules, with approval of appointments by the department and pay from public funds. Disputes concern approval of appointment, seniority, pay fixation, suspension, dismissal and retirement benefits. An employee of a private educational institution may appeal against dismissal, removal, reduction in rank and other specified orders to the Educational Appellate Tribunal under section 94 of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, presided over by the District Judge, and the Tribunal's order is open to challenge before the High Court. Teachers in government service take service disputes to the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal. Where no statutory appeal applies, a teacher in an unaided institution rests on the contract and the general law, and the Supreme Court in St. Mary's Education Society v. Rajendra Prasad Bhargava (2022) held that a writ does not lie against a private unaided school for service matters where no public duty is shown. Gratuity for teachers, as for other employees, is now governed by the Code on Social Security, 2020, which replaced the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

Which forum hears what?

A parent's complaint against a school goes to the block or district education officer and then to the Commissioner or Director, and beyond that by writ petition to the High Court. A staff appeal against a disciplinary order goes to the Educational Appellate Tribunal under section 94. A student's complaint against a university goes to the university's own grievance body and then to the High Court. A writ petition under Article 226 is the route against government action in education. The Karnataka High Court hears these writs, a single judge first and a Division Bench on writ appeal, and the Supreme Court hears special leave petitions from its decisions.

What a writ in education requires

A writ lies against the State, a university or a body that performs a public function, for a breach of a statute, a rule or the principles of natural justice. It does not usually lie against a purely private contract. The petition names the authority, the order challenged and the provision breached, and states whether the statutory remedy has been used or why it cannot be. Interim relief, such as allowing a student to sit an examination, depends on the date of the examination and is commonly decided in days.

What the law does not allow

A capitation fee or a screening procedure for admission to elementary education. Section 13 of the RTE Act bars both.

A writ on a purely private contract of service with an unaided institution where no public duty is shown.

What an institution or a parent has to decide first is whether a statutory appeal lies, since the High Court ordinarily expects it to be used before a writ is considered.