Falling Enrolment in Nearby Girls’ School No Justification to End Co-Education: Calcutta High Court While Quashing WBBSE Order
Board Ignored School Facilities, Parents’ Choice, and Educational Value of Co-Education
The Calcutta High Court has set aside multiple orders of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) withdrawing the co-education system for Classes V to VIII at Sonamui Co-Education School in Paschim Medinipore, holding that merely because girls’ school faces declining strength, cannot be a ground for withdrawal of co-education system.
The court noted that the Board failed to consider the infrastructure and educational environment available at the co-educational school, the statutory framework under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The Board did not even consider the consistent desire of parents to educate their daughters in the co-ed school. Guardians had repeatedly approached the Court challenging the withdrawal, showing sustained parental preference for the institution.
Justice Krishna Rao observed, “…The Board has taken into consideration the request made by the Sonamui Kshirodamoyee Balika Vidyalaya that there is sharp decline in roll strength due to existence of Co-education School is situated within 100 mtrs. from the girls school but has not taken into consideration that the Co-education School is established in the year 1965 and still the parents of the girls’ student intending that their daughters be studied in the Co-Education School”.
“Co-education is a setup where the boys and girls studied together under one roof without any distinction. The Co-education system is a necessity in the present time due to several reasons. Under this system, boys and girls receive physical, moral values and academic education together. It allows boys and girls to compete each other. Students studying in co-education schools are exposed to diversity during early school life”, the bench further observed.
Senior Advocate Subir Sanyal appeared for the petitioner and Advocate Himadri Barua appeared for the respondent.
In the present matter, the Board withdrew permission for co-education at the secondary level, claiming that the neighbouring girls’ school was suffering an “existence crisis” due to reduced roll strength.
Multiple rounds of litigation followed over the years, with interim protections allowing already admitted girls to continue, while restricting fresh admissions at certain stages.
The parents of the girl students again approached the Court, arguing that the co-educational school had better infrastructure, facilities, and academic environment, and that parents preferred it for their daughters. They relied on constitutional principles of equality enshrined under Article 14, 15 and 21-A of the Constitution of India, the Right to Education framework, and judicial precedents supporting co-education as socially and educationally beneficial.
The High Court, therefore, was of the opinion that the Board’s action was based primarily on protecting the enrolment of the girls’ school rather than any violation of norms by the co-educational institution.
Further, it said that there was no finding that the co-education school lacked facilities or breached recognition conditions. The Court noted that co-education had been in place since 1965, that the school was well-equipped, and that parents’ choice and students’ educational interests had not been adequately considered.
Holding the Board’s reasoning unjustified, the Court quashed the orders dated 2-09-2004, 15-07-2014, and 11-04-2017, allowing the writ petition, effectively restoring the co-education system in the school.
Cause Title: Swapan Kumar Manna & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Ors. WPA No. 29396 of 2024
Appearances:
Petitioner: Subir Sanyal, Sr. Adv., Sumouli Sarkar, Sourojit Mukherjee, Advocates.
Respondents: Himadri Barua, Biswajit Das, Sounak Bhattacharya, A. Haldar, Debanwita Pramanik, Koyeli Bhattacharya, Manas Bhattacharya, Sayan Ganguly, Advocates.