SC orders Viqarunnisa to admit 56 siblings of current students

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday upheld a High Court order that directed Viqarunnisa Noon School and College authorities to admit 56 siblings of current students to the first grade, dismissing appeals by the educational institution against the enrollment process.

A three-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order on Monday.

On 31 January, the High Court had ordered the admission of 41 siblings into class one of the school, suspending a new amendment to private school student admission rules. Later, separate petitions were filed for admission of 15 more siblings. The school authorities appealed to keep the amendment that would have barred the admission of the total 56 siblings of present students.

The amendment, published in an education ministry circular on 16 January, states that siblings of students in a private school cannot be admitted beyond 5% of the total seats of any given class. School authorities will decide who to admit under the 5% quota for siblings through lotteries if applications exceed the limit, the amendment, now suspended by the High Court, stated.

However, previous rules did not limit admission of siblings to the 5% quota.

The 56 siblings applied for admission to grade one before the new amendment was published and, thus, their guardians filed a writ petition with the high court seeking to suspend the new rules.

With Monday's Supreme Court order upholding the guardians' demands, there remains no hindrances in the admission of these 56 children into Viqarunnisa Noon School, the lawyers said.

Lawyers Probir Neoge, ABM Altaf Hossain and Jasmine Sultana stood for the writ petitioners in the court.