School registration in RTE portal: HC asks Dispur to give details of steps taken

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: A division bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury directed the Department of School Education to submit an affidavit by October 17, 2025, giving details of steps taken for ensuring the registration of all with the online portal meant for the implementation of Section 12(1)(e) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2008 (RTE Act).

The bench also asked the department to inform this court about the number of schools, district-wise, that are now on the grid for ensuring that students are not left high and dry. "If there is not a sufficient number of schools registered for each district, perhaps the purpose of all this effort would stand defeated," the court said.

"This Court would, therefore, like a detailed affidavit by the next date, with respect to the number of schools which are registered. An explanation also needs to be given as to why only vernacular medium schools have been instructed to register themselves on the portal," the bench added.

 Pursuant to the order passed by this court on February 25, 2024, it has been informed that an online portal has been made operational.

"However, from the affidavit, we find that the Cabinet decision in this regard is only with respect to vernacular medium, unaided and non-minority private schools of Assam, which have been instructed to register themselves with the dedicated portal meant for the purpose," the court said.

The contention of the writ petitioner is that no effort has been made to make such registration of schools mandatory, leaving it absolutely to the discretion of the schools to take a decision in that regard, the court said, and added, "Apart from this, the other objection raised by the writ petitioner is that only the Vernacular Medium Un-aided Schools have been asked to register themselves, whereas there is no distinction carved out between English Medium Schools and the Vernacular Medium Schools under the RTE Act."

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