HC seeks report from School Education Department if 7.5% quota could be extended to aided school students in select regions

Madras High Court directs report on extending 7.5% reservation in professional courses to government-aided school students.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Secretary to the School Education Department to file a report on whether the 7.5% horizontal reservation in professional courses to government school students could be extended to students of government-aided schools, in the absence of a government higher secondary school in a particular place.

A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and L. Victoria Gowri was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by C. Pubesh of Ramanathapuram, who sought a direction to the authorities concerned to establish a government higher secondary school for boys in Ramanathapuram.

In a status report, the Ramanathapuram Chief Educational Officer said there was one fully aided boys’ higher secondary school, two fully aided co-education higher secondary schools, one fully aided girls’ higher secondary school, and two partially aided co-education higher secondary schools in Ramanathapuram. The other higher secondary schools were at least 9 km from the town, the official said.

The petitioner submitted that the 7.5% reservation for students of government schools will not be available to students of aided schools.

The court observed that if the government wants to restrict reservation to government school students, government higher secondary schools should be opened in all district and taluk headquarters and, if not, the benefit should be extended to aided schools in those places where there are no government higher secondary schools.

The petitioner said that in the absence of a government-run higher secondary school for boys in Ramanathapuram, poor students could not receive the benefits provided by the State. He said that the Chief Educational Officer had sent a communication in 2023 stating that a proposal had been sent to the Directorate of School Education to upgrade a municipal middle school to a high school.

In an earlier status report, the Chief Educational Officer had submitted that it was not possible to directly upgrade a middle school to a higher secondary school. It should first be upgraded to a high school, and then to a higher secondary school, the report said.