Schools asked to give preference to their own students for class XI

Chennai, June 9 (UNI) Madras High Court today directed all the Higher Secondary Schools in the State to admit students of their own school, who have passed Class X board examination, as far as possible, subject to availability of seats.

A division Bench, comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice P Jyothimani, gave the above direction while passing interim orders and posting to June 13 for further hearing, the petition filed by A Mohamed Wasif a minor, who sought a direction to Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School to keep a seat vacant in the Science group.

The Bench said the Special Government Pleader had submitted that as per the State Policy, on passing the Class X board examination, admission to XI standard was automatic and the schools could not deny admission to its own students by enrolling students from other schools.

In the light of the submission, the bench directed that admission of a student from Class X to Class XI in the same school should not be treated as a fresh admission, but only as continuation of the original admission. Hence, issuing transfer certificate to Class X students and re-admitting them to Class XI was against the rules.

Besides, no admission test should be conducted by schools for their own students.

After accommodating their own students, the schools might consider students from other schools either on the basis of Class X marks or by conducting an entrance test. No school should prescribe any cut-off marks for admission to Class XI or for allotment of subjects, the Bench added.

The Director of Higher Secondary Education and the Director of Matriculation Board were directed to communicate this order forthwith to all the Higher Secondary Schools in the state for strict compliance.

Allowing the petitioner's plea, the Bench directed the schools to conduct the admission process in a transparent manner and listed out an elaborate procedure.

UNI