In keeping with India’s new law,Jesuits take back expelled student
(April 07, 2010) A Jesuit school in India, became the first to experience the impact of the country’s new law on universal education, when a court asked to take back a student it expelled. On Monday, April 5, the Delhi High Court stayed the expulsion of a girl by St. Xavier’s School in New Delhi, citing the Right to Education Act. The law that came to force on April 1st, seeks free and compulsory education for students between 6 and 14 years of age and restrains schools from expelling students during this period. With the new law’s enforcement, India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right for its citizens.
The Jesuit school expelled Suman Bhati on March 27, after she failed her sixth grade exams. School regulations stipulate that a child who fails twice cannot continue in school. The girl’s father asked the Delhi High Court to act against the school’s decision to expel her. The court reportedly criticized the school management for taking unlawful action and asked the school to take her back.
Jesuit provincial of Delhi, Father John Ariappilly, told UCA News April 6 that the school only followed its rules. The Jesuit superior said the school would respect the court order and take Bhati back. “We have to follow all the regulations of the new act,” he added.
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