The Allahabad High Court also pulled up the state's Basic Education department for casual amendments in rules pertaining to appointment of teachers.
All government servants, elected representatives, members of judiciary and any other persons who get any benefit or salary from the state exchequer or public fund should send their children to primary schools run by the state education board, said the Allahabad High Court.
The court has asked the Chief Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government to "take steps within six months so as to make the aforesaid directions applicable from the next academic session," and file a compliance report thereafter.
The order came on petition filed by Umesh Kumar Singh and others who had challenged the process of selection of Associate Teachers for government-run primary and junior high schools in UP for the years 2013 and 2015.
The court observed that government servants would ensure that state-run schools would function well if they send their children to such educational institutions.
Justice Sudhir Agarwal, who passed the judgement, also ruled that "penal provisions" be laid down for those who violate the order. An amount equal to the school fees should be deposited by officials and elected representatives to the state exchequer, for every child going to a private school which is not maintained by the state government, the court said.
The court also said that any such person not following the order "should be made to suffer other benefits like increment, promotional avenues for a certain period, as the case may be". The appropriate provisions can be made by the government to ensure that parents or wards of children are compelled to receive primary education in the schools run by the Board.
The court pulled up the state's Basic Education department for "mindless, negligent, casual amendments" in rules pertaining to appointment of teachers.
"If a little care would have been there on the part of responsible officers in making legislations for making recruitment, huge litigations resulting in lakhs of vacancies in primary schools maintained by the UP Board would not have been caused", the court remarked.