The Calcutta High Court has quashed orders of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) that curtailed co-education at Sonamui Co-Education School, holding that the Board cannot restrict girls’ admissions merely to shore up enrolment at a nearby girls’ school. The ruling immediately reopens admissions for girl students in Classes V to VIII, reaffirming parental choice and equal access to education.
Sonamui has functioned as a recognised co-educational institution since 1965. After a girls’ school came up nearby in 1988, the Board progressively withdrew permissions at the middle level, citing declining enrolment at the girls’ school allegedly caused by Sonamui’s continued co-education.
The school challenged the restrictions, arguing there was no breach of statutory or regulatory norms and that the Board’s action penalised students to manage enrolment outcomes elsewhere. The Board leaned on an earlier writ’s dismissal, while the school maintained that the issue had never been decided on merits.
Justice Krishna Rao rejected the Board’s rationale, noting the absence of any proven violation by Sonamui and clarifying that the earlier dismissal for default did not validate the restrictions. Anchoring the analysis in Articles 14, 15 and 21-A of the Constitution and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, the Court held that educational access and parental choice cannot be curtailed by “arbitrary administrative decisions.”
The Court also relied on precedent recognising the pedagogical and social value of co-education, found the Board’s approach discriminatory, especially given other co-ed schools in the locality, and faulted its failure to assess Sonamui’s facilities, including separate amenities for girls. The impugned orders dated 2 September 2004, 15 July 2014 and 11 April 2017 were set aside, permitting admissions of girls in Classes V to VIII.
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