SC orders Visakha Principal to admit child in FR case

The Supreme Court directed the Principal to admit a girl who was not admitted to Grade One of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo despite meeting all the necessary qualifications within two weeks.

This order was made by deciding that the Principal and the Appeal’s Board of the school violated the girl’s fundamental rights by refusing to admit the girl to the school. Judge Mahinda Samayawardena announced this decision with the concurrence of Supreme Court Judges Priyantha Jayawardena and Preethi Padman Surasena in relation to a fundamental rights petition filed by her mother against not admitting the girl to the school. This petition was submitted by Pavitra Tarangani Ileperuma, a resident of Havelock Road, Colombo. Attorney Lakshan Dias appeared for the petitioner.

She submitted an application to Colombo Visakha Vidyalaya for admission of her child to Grade One in 2022 and the respondents rejected the application without being called for an interview and the reason cited for this is the exhaution of the religious quota. Although the authorities had assumed that her child was a Hindu due to her husband being a Hindu, the petitioner had mentioned in Court that she was a Buddhist. The petitioner alleges that although a request was submitted to the school’s Appeals Board against this decision, the same Board did not conduct a fair and independent investigation. It was also stated that this girl has scored 59 points, surpassing the cut-off marks required for admission to the first grade.

She had indicated in her petition that her daughter has met all the qualifications mentioned in the circular issued by the Education Ministry on the qualifications for admission to Grade One. The Supreme Court has mentioned that the respondent principal has accepted the cut-off marks for admitting children to Grade One of Visakha Vidyalaya as 53 marks.

The Supreme Court ordered the Principal to immediately enrol the child to Grade Two or a suitable Grade within two weeks.The Supreme Court Registrar was ordered to take steps to forward a copy of the judgement to the Principal immediately.