CNI Praises Supreme Court's Move Empowering Poor Children in Quality Education

New Delhi – The recent landmark judgment of three–judge bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising of Chief Justice V. Khare and Justices S. B. Sinha and S. H. Kapadia that brought rays of hope to the millions of children who are at the periphery in the area of education in this country was applauded by the Church of North India (CNI). The apex Court through its judgment has made the Indians proud to be committed to all those hopeless and hapless children of this country by asking these elite schools to reserve 25% of the seats for the children from poor communities, the Christian body said. To prevent the commercialization of education and injustice to millions of children this landmark judgment will be a watershed towards universalizing quality education.

"On behalf of Church of North India I congratulate the apex court of our country for taking this bold and necessary step, which will force the schools that are standing tall on the lands of people to allow them to enter and get benefit out of it," exhorted Rev. Enos Das Pradhan, the General Secretary of the CNI in a recent press release. It is reported that the court also questioned about the fee structure, which is prohibitive for many poor children.

It may be mentioned here that the Public Schools in Delhi were given land by the Delhi Development Authority at a concessional rate, on condition that 25% of the seats in the schools will be reserved for children coming from the poor communities. However time and again, surveys conducted revealed that none of these schools had complied with this condition. These schools catering to elite section of the society wanted the least amongst the people to remain the least.

"We, the Church of North India, which runs several thousand schools all over the North India, believe that education today instead of becoming a means of liberation has turned out to be a means of exploitation and domination," the release said. "It has become successful only to create a group of educated elite who may or may not have concern for people. Our institutions should not function as ivory towers and islands of excellence in the ocean of ignorance. We should end the traditional isolation from the local community and should consider that one of our essential functions is to render intellectual and social services to the community."

"The major challenges before us today is an immediate shift which must be made in favor of the poor and especially to the rural areas and backward and vulnerable groups," the release continued.

"We call upon all the schools of this country in general and Delhi in particular to welcome the decision of the apex court and immediately implement its judgment," it stated. "We should redefine the concepts of quality excellence and relevance in education. Quality implies a people–centered training, which includes a commitment to the establishment of a just society."

"We re–commit ourselves and appeal to all the schools to create a space for all the deprived children of our society, which will allow each individual to achieve their God–given potential to become all that they can be without being suppressed, exploited or used as the tools of those who have," the release concluded.