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RTE violations: BMC to go tough on 218 schools
On Friday, Nitin Dalvi and Prasad Tulaskar, members of the Maharashtra Student Teachers’ Parents Federation filed a complaint with the school education department, director of primary education and commissioner of education. The complaint stated that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) education department has not taken action against the schools which flouted the norms.
Mumbai: The state government has directed the civic body’s education department to take action against 218 private schools in the city that are operating without renewing their approval under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, for the last eight years.
On Friday, Nitin Dalvi and Prasad Tulaskar, members of the Maharashtra Student Teachers’ Parents Federation filed a complaint with the school education department, director of primary education and commissioner of education. The complaint stated that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) education department has not taken action against the schools which flouted the norms.
The penalty for schools that operate without approval is ₹10,000 per day.
Having filed a Right to Information request on March 27, Tulaskar said it took almost a month for the school education department to order the director of primary education to take action against the 218 schools.
The federation has alleged that most reputed city schools are not renewing RTE recognition to conceal their financial malpractices. “However, there are several other criteria that schools must meet for renewal, including maintaining the teacher-student ratio, admission of 25% poor students under RTE, free uniforms for students and the formation of a school management committee with parent participation. The education inspectors check these criteria and only then is the certificate of renewal of RTE recognition given,” states the federation’s letter.
“Despite these irregularities, the education department has turned a blind eye to the matter. The federation has questioned why it took the school education department almost a month to act on their complaint and have also demanded action against the concerned officer for the delay,” Dalvi said.
“It is important to note that these schools are under inquiry for being bogus as well as unauthorised and attempts are being made to suppress the case of the 218 schools operating illegally without RTE approval,” he added.
BMC education officials said at present they are acting against illegal schools and later they will then start initiating action against schools which have not renewed approval under RTE Act. “Till 2019, there was no provision of an account head under which the education department could deposit a penalty amount. In 2019, through a government resolution, an account head was decided following which we started sending notices to such schools,” said a BMC education official.
