NEW DELHI (UCAN) – A Jesuit school in the national capital became the first institution to experience the impact of India’s new law on universal education.

Students in front of St. Xavier’s School

On April 5, the Delhi High Court stayed the expulsion of a girl by St. Xavier’s School, citing the Right to Education Act.

The law that came to force on April 1 seeks free and compulsory education for students between 6 and 14 years of age and restrains schools from expelling students during this period.

With the new law’s enforcement, India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right for its citizens.

The Jesuit school expelled Suman Bhati on March 27 after she failed her sixth grade exams. School regulations stipulate that a child who fails twice cannot continue in school. Bhati had failed in the fourth grade also.

The girl’s father asked the Delhi High Court to act against the school’s decision to expel her.

The court reportedly criticized the school management for taking unlawful action. It said the girl was expelled without considering how such an act would affect her. It asked the school to take back the girl.

School principal Father Jose Philip was not available for comment despite several attempts to contact him.

However, Jesuit provincial of Delhi, Father John Ariappilly, told UCA News April 6 that the school only followed its rules. The Jesuit superior said the school would respect the court order and take Bhati back. “We have to follow all the regulations of the new act,” he added.

Father Ariappilly says schools now are not required to make separate rules after the enforcement of the new law.

Father Kuriala Chittattukalam, secretary of the Indian bishops’ education commission, says the court order was hasty. “They have gone too fast. The Act came into force only on April 1. Implementation takes time,” the Salesian priest told UCA News.

The Church official maintained that the school had given the girl “a fair chance according to its rules.” Maintaining that the Church is willing to follow government laws, he asserted, “We are doing a good job and not harassing anybody.”