Usually schools, working in remote areas, do not fully comply with government regulations. However, if the…

Question

Usually schools, working in remote areas, do not fully comply with government regulations. However, if the rules are enforced strictly, it would lead to most schools closing down. How should an administrator strike a balance between enforcement of rules and educational rights of children?

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

An administrator should grade enforcement, holding safety norms firm, giving time-bound plans and support for other gaps, and never closing a school before every child is placed elsewhere. After the 2004 Kumbakonam fire, Avinash Mehrotra (2009) made school safety part of the right to education.

**Introduction**

School regulations exist to secure the quality and safety that make Article 21A meaningful. Enforcing them so strictly that remote schools shut would defeat their purpose, so the administrator must apply the spirit of the rules.

**Graded Enforcement of School Regulations**

SKETCH: matrix | Grading School Violations
cols: Quick to fix | Slow to fix
rows: Safety risk | No safety risk
tl: Fix at once
tr: Shift children, then act
bl: Notice and deadline
br: Phased plan with aid

1. **Safety is non-negotiable**: After the Kumbakonam school fire of 2004 killed 94 children, Avinash Mehrotra v Union of India (2009) made school safety part of the right to education.
2. **Time to comply**: Section 19 of the RTE Act, 2009 gave schools three years to meet its norms; written, time-bound plans can cover gaps like playgrounds.
3. **Support before penalty**: Samagra Shiksha grants and CSR can build classrooms and toilets, making the inspector a facilitator.
4. **Outcomes over inputs**: NEP 2020 asks regulation to move from input norms towards learning outcomes and public disclosure.

**Protecting Children's Right to Learn**

1. **No child out of school**: Where closure is unavoidable, every child is first placed in a neighbourhood school under Section 6, with transport for long distances.
2. **Community oversight**: School Management Committees under Section 21 let parents track progress.
3. **Equity lens**: Gandhi's talisman directs attention to the tribal, first-generation learner who has no other school, guarding against **rule-bound amoralism**, where the rule is obeyed and its purpose forgotten.

**Conclusion**

Firm on safety, flexible on infrastructure and unyielding on access: such **proportionality** upholds both the rule of law and Article 21A, so regulation lifts remote schools up instead of shutting them down.

Usually schools, working in remote areas, do not fully comply with government regulations. However, if the rules are enforced strictly, it would lead to most schools closing down. How should an administrator strike a balance between enforcement of rules and educational rights of children?

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