Edu officer be held responsible for illegal schools

Mumbai: From now on, if any illegal school is found operating anywhere in Maharashtra, the concerned education officer will be held personally responsible and be subjected to disciplinary action

Mumbai: From now on, if any illegal school is found operating anywhere in Maharashtra, the concerned education officer will be held personally responsible and be subjected to disciplinary action. The state education department issued a government resolution to this effect on Monday, and the decision is being seen as a significant step towards curbing the operation of illegal schools.

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“The directive has been issued to prevent the opening of new illegal schools in the state as the government has found that several schools are operating without having proper permissions and students enrolled in these schools have to suffer a lot,” said a senior official from the education department.

State education minister Deepak Kesarkar had said in March that Maharashtra has around 800 illegal schools, and punitive action, including closure, would be initiated against them if they failed to provide necessary documents. Nearly 1,500 students were shifted schools with valid permissions during this period, following counselling sessions for parents who were unaware of the approval status of schools where their children were enrolled, said officials.

In May, the deputy director of education instructed officials to submit a fresh report on illegal schools in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The report showed that the five MMR districts had 517 primary schools and 97 secondary schools that did not have necessary clearances.

Subsequently, 13 primary schools received approval during a special drive, while 88 primary schools were closed down and two schools were fined. Presently, 416 deemed illegal schools that offer primary education in MMR are awaiting government approval.

At the secondary level, 13 schools received approval during the special drive, while 14 schools were closed down and one school was fined. Presently, 70 secondary schools in MMR that are categorised as illegal are awaiting government approval.