New Delhi: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in Supreme Court seeking the introduction of a common syllabus and curriculum for students across the country.
The petition, which has been filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, stated that sections 1 (4) and 1 (5) of Right to Education Act-2009 are biggest barriers in expounding the Constitution. It further argues that absence of a common curriculum in mother language leads to fostering and perpetuation of ignorance, The Indian Express reported.
The PIL says that the prevailing system doesn’t provide equal opportunity to all children as syllabus and curriculum are different for every strata of the society.
“It is necessary to state that the purposive and harmonious construction of Articles 14, 15, 16, 21, 21A with Articles 38, 39, 46 confirms that education is a basic right of every child and the State cannot discriminate against this most important right… Right of a child should not be restricted only to free education but must be extended to have equal quality education without discrimination on the ground of child’s social economic and cultural background. Therefore, the Court may declare Sections 1(4) and 1(5) arbitrary, irrational and violative of Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21 and direct the Centre to implement common syllabus and common curriculum for the students of I-VIII standard throughout the country,” the petition states.
A common minimum education programme for children up to 14 years will ensure the code of common culture, removal of disparity and depletion of discriminatory values in human relations, the plea states.