Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As many as 883 private schools have not uploaded fee information on the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) portal. Peeved over this, District Education Officer (DEO) N.K. Ahirwar has issued show cause notices to these schools, asking them to present their side within three days or face de-recognition.
The DEO had written to the 883 private schools, giving them till October 15 to file their replies. However, the DEO office is now mulling overwaiting till the end of Diwali for the responses from the private schools. After this, it will decide on disciplinary action.
Interacting with Free Press, Ahirwar said that enough chances have been given to private schools to upload their fee information on the portal, but they haven’t followed the government order. Uploading the fee information is aimed at bringing transparency tothe fee structure.
The DEO office said that there are 1,717 private schools in Bhopal district, and out of them, 463 schools with fees above Rs 25,000 have submitted their total fee structure. Another 371 schools, with below Rs 25,000, have also uploaded their documents.
In the show-cause notice issued to the errant private schools, the DEO office said that if they fail to comply with the order, action will be taken against them under the Madhya Pradesh Private School (Regulation of fees and other subjects) Act 2017 and Rule 2020.
‘Keeping public in dark’
Secretary of Palak Mahasangh (parents’ association), Prabodh Pandya, told Free Press that private schools want to hide fee- and account-related information, as they aim to keep the public in the dark. He said that neither the Collector nor the DEO are empowered to issue a time-bound letter to private schools for a reply, as the portal is of the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI).
He alleged that the government's negligent attitude is also responsible for the schools' arbitrary behaviour. Otherwise, if the government wanted, all private schools would have submitted the fee information in a day, he said.
