Business as usual for illegal schools

Visakhapatnam: Though the officials of the Education department have cracked whip on unrecognised schools in the district, some are still running classes.

The educational officials conducted a special drive in May-June and found around 200 schools have not been recognised by the government. The High Court of AP had directed the district administration in 2009 to close all unrecognised schools in the district and asked officials to book criminal cases against the managements of such schools, those have been running without proper authorisation from the government.

The officials should warn the managements much before the commencement of the academic year around June, but they are not doing it. As a result, the schools continue operations every year.

Consequently, officials served notices to all these unrecognised schools to obtain permission from the department. But, some schools have violated the rule and the officials imposed '1 lakh penalty for not following the guidelines.

The officials instructed deputy inspectors of schools and deputy educational officers concerned, in the district, to book cases against the managements of schools who have been neglecting to obtain permission from the government.

The officials have booked criminal cases against such negligent school managements and warned them to close the institutions. “We have served notices to such schools. Some of them applied for recognition. Still, we are collecting data of schools to obtain permission from the government,” said senior official from the education department.

In fact, serving notices to unrecognised schools has turned out to be a routine procedure during the time of admissions and as soon as the academic year starts, the issue was being overlooked for some years. The managements of some schools said the permission from the education department is not an easy thing and have to comply with all guidelines, including spacious classrooms.

“The jobless youngsters are opening schools and this involves many difficulties. A Class I student of a local unrecognised English medium school, at Nathaiahpalem, died when a thatched classroom had collapsed due to heavy gales this year. Infrastructure plays a key role. But, officials have been liberal in such matters,” said a professor from AU, on the condition of anonymity.