Cannot direct CBSE, ICSE, State Board to include law in school curriculum: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition that sought directions to all school boards to compulsorily include law as a subject from 8th standard [ Vinod Mathew Wilson v. Union of India & Ors. ]

. A Division Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly opined that the syllabi in schools are set on the basis of extensive studies by experts in the field and courts cannot enter into policy domain earmarked for the executive.

"In our view, insofar as the field of education is concerned, the syllabus for imparting education is prescribed by various educational agencies, taking into account the opinions extended by the experts, and other studies carried out in a well defined manner so as to achieve targets, and inculcate values among the students," the Court said.

. Since the Court cannot undertake such a study on its own, it declined to issue any orders to the government or to education boards regarding the inclusion of law as a subject.

"In our view, such a course of action and deep seated study cannot be undertaken by a Court of law, and the court is not an expert to analyze the issues and the requirements of the community in a larger perspective, and without undertaking any such studies through experts, no direction can be issued to the Central as well as the State Governments to frame a policy in a particular manner. Which thus means, the petitioner is attempting to persuade this Court to step into unwanted and prohibited areas, enjoyed by the law making agencies of the respective Governments," the Bench held.

. It went on to emphasise that education is a policy matter and as such, the Court cannot step in.

"In order to produce results in the arena of education to match with the present day global competition, there should be a coordinated, concerted and dedicated action to frame effective policy by the government, and we have no doubt in our mind that the government and the government alone would be in a position to undertake such a great task using its wide machinery of experts in the field," the judgment stated.

. The Court made the observation while disposing a public interest litigation petition filed by a practicing lawyer seeking directions to the Centre, the Ministry of Education, the CBSE, the ICSE, the Kerala Department of General Education and the Chairman of SCERT to include law as a subject in the curriculum of CBSE, ICSE and the Kerala State Board, preferably from class 8.

According to the petitioner, represented by advocate R Sivadasan, Indians from all strata of society are ignorant of the law which in turn negatively affects their lives, and sometimes leads to violation of their fundamental rights, more so when they belong to marginalised sections.

It was argued that to properly impart legal education, it is necessary to mandate the inclusion of legal subjects from 8th standard onwards so that students may opt to pursue law after school leading to the development of a dedicated army of budding lawyers.

. The Court opined that, in exercise of the powers conferred to it under Article 226 of the Constitution , it cannot undertake any expert studies and issue a direction to educational agencies to make changes to the curriculum already set by them on the basis of extensive studies.

Moreover, the powers under Article 226 leave no room for doubt that the judiciary must not overstep its bounds and enter the legislative realm in which education policy belongs, the Court said.

. Pertinently, the Court observed that the Supreme Court had the occasion to consider a substantially similar matter in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India and Ors, in which the Court declined an almost similar relief.

. The Court, therefore, dismissed the petition.

. [Read Judgment]

Cannot direct CBSE, ICSE, State Board to include law in school curriculum: Kerala High Court

Giti Pratap

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