Education department starts drive against unrecognized schools

Sixty eight nursery and primary schools without the mandatory state recognition have been issued notices by the department of elementary education. If they do not comply and obtain recognition, they will be sent a second round of notices by the end of November. If these continue to function further without the required certificates, they will be directed to shut shop before March, so that the students in these schools could be admitted in other schools. Officials believe that most of these schools will not be able to meet the conditions mandated by the government and will have to be closed down. P Jeyaraj, district elementary education officer (DEEO), said after a meeting of assistant education officers (AEO)s on Tuesday that unauthorised schools were issued notices in the last few weeks. “About three months ago, head masters of government schools were asked to identify schools in their locality. Notices were sent to those schools that were found to be functioning without approval,” he said. They have been asked to get the various certificates required to run a school. A team of officials from the education department will visit these schools next week and hold inspections and note the progress made with regard to the required norms. Certifications including stability certificate, fire and safety certificate as well as certificates from the department of health and the city corporation are necessary to run a school. Most important of these conditions is the minimum land required to run a school. Schools in corporation limits should have a minimum of 33 cents, in municipality areas 55 cents, town panchayat an acre and village panchayats three acre to function. If these schools fail to comply with all the norms, they will be directed to close down before the end of the academic year. According to S Mayadevi, president, private school welfare association, many schools have not renewed their licences as they do not have the required land. The criterion on minimum land was imposed only a year ago. Obtaining an acre to three acres in the rural areas has become impossible, she said. She also said the closure of schools will affect the students. Around 30 schools were closed at the start of this academic year for similar reasons. “This had affected the students who found it hard to get admission in other schools. A similar situation could arise,” she said. She wondered how many government school followed the norms. However, Jeyaraj insisted that all the unauthorised schools will be closed down before March, so that students can obtain admission in other schools. The certificates required for schools Stability certificate Fire and safety certificate ‘D-Form’ certificate from tahsildar Sanitary certificate from the health department Approval from Local Planning Authority (LPA) for building plan Minimum land as mandated by the state government Source: Education News