E-Paper
DIoSs say no illegal secondary school in Uttar Pradesh; higher-ups refuse to buy claim
Director, secondary education, warns of action if any such school is found running in any district of the state
Uttar Pradesh is free of the menace of illegal secondary schools, claim reports submitted thrice by the district inspectors of schools (DIoSs) of all 75 districts of the state in the last few months.
In their reports to Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad aka UP Board, these officials have claimed that not a single unauthorised or illegal secondary school has been found in their respective districts post scrutiny, say senior state secondary education department officials aware of the matter.
On May 30, July 15 and again on August 4 this year, secretary, Prayagraj-headquartered UP Board, Dibyakant Shukla had instructed all the DIoSs to take effective action against the illegally run unauthorised secondary schools in their respective areas. However, all the DIoSs have sent reports that no invalid school is running in their districts.
These claims, however, are in stark contrast with the complaints submitted by public representatives and various organisations who had complained to the state government that unauthorised schools were being run in the districts with impunity, the officials add.
Taking a strong cognisance of the claims of DIoSs in their reports, director, secondary education, U.P., Mahendra Dev has expressed his displeasure in a letter sent to all DIoSs on September 15.
In the missive, a copy of which is with HT, all DIoSs have again been directed to ensure that no unrecognised or unauthorised secondary schools are running in their districts and also that they were not trying to illegally enrol students in UP Board recognised schools.
If such schools are being run through any unauthorised institution or sans due permission, immediate action should be taken against that institution or school, the missive directs. The letter reminds the officials that even recognised schools are authorised to admit students for only those classes and in specific streams/subjects for which they have duly been granted permission by the UP Board.
Dev has specifically ordered DIoSs to conduct surprise inspections of all schools thoroughly to ensure implementation of this provision. The DIOSs have been asked to provide inspection report of their respective districts to the secretary, UP Board, by September 30. Even after this, if unauthorised secondary schools are found running, strict action will be taken against the DIOS concerned, the letter makes plain.
UP Board secretary Dibyakant Shukla said it was only after getting regular complaints from people and public representatives that the missives were sent to all the DIoSs by him to identify unauthorised secondary schools running in their respective districts and take action as per the law.
“We hope that following the fresh instructions from the director (secondary education), now the DIoSs would carry out a stringent checking in their districts and act against any school found to be running sans recognition and permission,” he said.
Lalmani Dwivedi, general secretary, Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh (Thakurai faction) and a teacher for the past over two decades in the state, said, “The state education department officials keep writing to their higher-ups in a bid to complete the formality of the tasks entrusted to them and take no action against the unauthorised schools on the ground. The fact is that such schools have cropped up in every nook and corner and are running with impunity fleecing parents on one hand and imparting education of dubious standards to students on the other.”
Counted among one of the world’s largest examination conducting bodies, UP Board has over 27,000 schools affiliated to it across Uttar Pradesh. A total of 55,03,863 students have registered for the 2024 high school and intermediate exams of UP Board. They include 29,54,036 in class 10 and another 25,49,827 in class 12. In 2023 edition of the class 10 and class 12 exams, a total of 54,34,623 students had appeared in the exams. They included 28,63,621 students of high school and another 25,71,002 of intermediate.
