Hyderabad: Telangana High Court issued notices to respondents on a plea challenging the MJPTBCWREIS timetable and teacher deployment.
The Division Bench comprised Chief Justice Sri Aparesh Kumar Singh and Sri Justice Vakiti Ramakrishna Reddy.
Petitioner Madiri Shiply challenged G.O. Ms. No.16 dated 02.07.2024. The order fixed school timings from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
Under the order, schools set aside 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM for supervisory study. The petitioner argued that this period replaced regular teacher-led classes.
Advocate Barkat Ali Khan appeared for the petitioner. He argued that the order conflicted with applicable educational norms and G.O. Ms. No.3.
He also referred to directions issued by the then Andhra Pradesh High Court in a similar PIL. That case concerned school timings and teaching hours.
According to Khan, the supervisory study period caused a substantial loss of regular teaching periods. He said 7,920 periods were affected during an academic year.
The petitioner also raised concerns about warden availability in residential schools. Khan said the required 1:50 warden-to-student ratio under Clause 14 of NCPCR Guidelines was not followed.
He further submitted that teaching staff were assigned hostel and supervisory duties when wardens were unavailable. These duties also included night shifts, according to the petitioner.
Khan argued that such assignments conflicted with Section 27 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
MJPTBCWREIS timetable drew discrimination claim
The petitioner also pointed to a later timetable revision for certain similarly placed residential institutions. Authorities discontinued the 8:15 AM to 9:00 AM timing under that revision.
However, MJPTBCWREIS was not included in the revised arrangement, Khan submitted. He argued that this amounted to unequal treatment of similarly situated institutions.
The petitioner relied on Article 14 of the Constitution in raising the discrimination claim.
He therefore sought the quashing of G.O. Ms. No.16 dated 02.07.2024. He also sought the extension of the revised 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM timetable to MJPTBCWREIS.
Further, the petitioner sought directions for strict compliance with Section 27 of the RTE Act. The plea specifically sought restrictions on assigning teachers to non-educational duties.
It also sought compliance with rules concerning hostel and warden responsibilities.
After hearing the submissions, the Division Bench issued notices to the respondents. The court posted the matter after two weeks.
