Maharashtra Education dept to submit report on unauthorised schools

The Maharashtra School Education Department has been asked to submit a report on unauthorised schools running across state and action taken till now.

Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights said that if there is any school running without the required Right to Education (RTE) Act approval, considering the safety of children studying in those schools, the issue comes under its ambit.

The commission has written a letter to the Director of School Education (Primary) in which it refers to a complaint submitted by a parent activist.

The letter dated August 18, stated that a complaint is received that there are a total of 218 private unaided schools running in Mumbai which do not have the RTE approval.

Maharashtra has five regional deputy directorates of education, 28 municipalities and 34 Zilla Parishad. It is important that the school education department prepares a list of schools running without RTE approval in all these areas and take appropriate action.

In the recently concluded Assembly session, the state government’s education department had announced that it will review the parameters used for approval of schools, especially for schools running in slum areas of urban localities. Earlier this year, as the government started cracking down on unauthorised schools, owners of several such schools from Mumbai had come together under a federation demanding a compassionate view as parameters such as available land, ground etc., are impossible to meet in city slums.

The schools have to be held responsible for running without the required approval for so long. But the administration is not taking it seriously, said a parent activists.

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