On Thursday, the Delhi High Court issued a notice in response to a petition that calls for action against schools affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in the national capital. These schools are allegedly involved in the unlawful practice of providing "dummy schooling" to students in Class 11 and 12.

A divisional bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula has sent out notices to various parties, including the Delhi government's Department of Health and Family Welfare, the Central Board of Secondary Education, and the Council for Indian School Certification Examination. The case has been scheduled for further proceedings on November 29.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleges that the concept of a "dummy school" is essentially a strategy that offers students a virtual platform to portray themselves as having moved to Delhi after completing their 10th-grade exams. This is allegedly done with the sole intention of gaining access to the state quota seats in Delhi, which should rightfully be reserved for genuine residents of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.

Typically, through the "dummy platform," a student gets enrolled in a dummy school without physically attending classes or following the school's curriculum. Instead, they only participate in the final exams as if they were regular students of that school. The schools engaged in these practices reportedly charge a premium fee from these students to maintain them on their records, meeting the requirements of the educational board to which they are affiliated.

This scheme involves a deep-seated network of such schools, and various coaching institutes play a role in guiding students to gain admission to these schools under the guise of "dummy schooling." They entice students with the promise of eligibility for Delhi state quota seats and the extra time available for preparing for competitive exams like NEET, as these students would not be obligated to attend regular school classes.

The plea goes on to assert that the notion of a "dummy school" blatantly contradicts the educational standards set by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It highlights that CBSE's affiliation bylaws explicitly require all CBSE-affiliated schools to maintain records and documentation. Moreover, it is the responsibility of an affiliated school to keep records of the attendance of all students, with particular emphasis on attendance in Classes 9, 10, 11, and 12, as this attendance data is vital for students' eligibility to appear in the Board's examinations.

The plea additionally argues that "dummy schools" exclusively offer students the opportunity to sit for examinations without any obligation for regular attendance. This practice is evidently in direct violation of the CBSE bylaws, which mandate a minimum attendance requirement of 75%.

Among the various requests made, the plea seeks several actions, including:
•    A directive to the CBSE to issue suitable guidelines for the identification of "dummy schools" operating in Delhi for NEET-UG aspirants.
•    A directive to the CBSE to take appropriate measures against its affiliated schools that are engaged in the unlawful practice of providing "dummy schooling" to students in Class 11 and 12.

Furthermore, the plea also requests a directive to invalidate the current practice of the Delhi government, which excludes the criteria of residence as one of the eligibility requirements for claiming Delhi state quota seats (comprising 85 percent of the total seats). It seeks to reinstate the eligibility criteria, specifying that candidates must have completed their Class 11 and 12 educations from a school affiliated with a recognized board within Delhi. This is in regard to aspirants or candidates seeking eligibility to claim Delhi state quota seats for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in colleges affiliated with Delhi University and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.