Notice to CBSE over unrecognised schools

Chennai: The Madras high court has ordered notice to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Commissioner of Police, TANGEDCO, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and Narayana Group of Schools, Chennai, on a petition, which sought to implead them as party Respondents to a PIL, which sought to close down all the unrecognized schools in the state.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M.Sundar posted to February 21, further hearing of the case. In his impleading petition, CHANGE India by its director A.Narayanan submitted that originally he had filed a petition in public interest to direct the authorities to take measures to close down all unrecognized schools including those allegedly imparting state board, CBSE, ICSC curriculum in the state and make arrangements to admits students of such schools in other recognized neighbourhood government/government aided/unaided schools. Based on complaints from few parents, who have admitted their children in an unaided CBSE school by name “Narayana e-techno school” at

Ramapuram, Chennai, the social workers of CHANGE India visited the scho-ols run by this group and found the issues raised by the parents were true. They had also prepared a field visit report.

The major findings in the report were false claims in full page advertisement given by the management in leading newspaper, neither CBSE affiliation nor recognition from the school education department for many of these schools, no minimum land area, no play ground, no compound wall, no infrastructure, transporting children in assortment of commercial vehicles without approval of transport department, misuse of electricity, risking the lives and limbs of children with recklessness, alleged violation of planning permit, running school without completion certificate, safety certificate and other statutory norms and violation of provisions of Right to Education Act and the directions of the Supreme Court.
Therefore, the petitioner sent a representation to various authorities against Narayanana Group of Schools, based out of Hyderabad, which established almost 14 schools in one year and admitted students even while undertaking construction of the buildings. Since, there was no response, the petitioner filed the present petition, Narayanan added.