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SC orders submission of School entrants’ lists for last 3 years
View(s):The Supreme Court on Feb.26 ordered principals of 13 leading schools to submit lists of students admitted to their schools in the past three years.
Two lists were demanded. One of students admitted from Grade 1 to 5, and the other of students admitted after passing the Grade 5 Scholarship exam.
The order was given by a 3-Judge Bench comprising Justices Priyasad Depp, Buvaneka Aluvihare and Upali Abeyratne, on consideration of a Petition submitted by the Ceylon Teachers’ Union and a group of parents.
Among the respondents in the Petition were the principals of Royal College, Ananda College, DS Senanayake College, Nalanda College, Mahanama College, Isipathana College, Thurstan College, Richmond College- Galle, Rahula (Matara), Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya, Visakha Vidyalaya and Gothami Balika Vidyalaya, along with officials headed by the Director of National Schools.
According to the Petition, the plaintiffs children who had scored high at the Scholarship exam, were denied admission to these 13 schools because the cut-off marks had been raised much higher than those in previous years.
Further inquiries had revealed that the real reason behind this was the lack of places for students available in these schools, where from Grades 1 to 5 the number of students had exceeded 45 per class.
Petitioners claimed it a violation of their basic rights. They demand a regulation to govern the admission of students who have passed the Scholarship exam, and that justice be done to them.
Attorney-at-Law J.C. Weliamuna appeared for the Petitioners while Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Rajaratnam PC represented the Attorney General.