Palghar : The Vasai Panchayat Samiti is all set to down the shutters of almost 38 illegal schools which have flourished in the taluka over the years and haven’t received any formal approval from the Education Board by the end of this month.
After sending initial notice in the month of June, required follow-up wasn’t done by the then administrative officers and hence these illegal schools continued to function. However, this recent notice issued in the second week of December had given time till December 31 to all the illegal schools to shut their activities or face fine.
As per the notice, a copy of which is with FPJ, the school administration would be fined Rs 1 lakh for operating an illegal school and would be fined Rs 10, 000 on a daily basis till the time school is not shut.
Speaking to FPJ, Vijay Barathe, Block Education Officer, said, “I wish to appeal to all the illegal school owners to shut their schools at the earliest. In case anyone has received an official approval to operate the school then bring a copy of it to our office.”
Barring a couple of them, almost all the schools will face this axe as they won’t be able to fulfil one of the most important criteria required to get the nod and that is, to have a one acre land parcel. Greed to earn has taken over logic as few schools could be seen being operated in 200 sq ft galas meant to be used as paan-beedi shops. The staff appointed by the school are sometimes not even SSC passed and that reflects in the way students are taught. Neither is their pronunciation correct and nor are their spellings. One of the school owners said that since they have permission to operate a school in Vasai they can operate another branch on the same approval in Nalasopara also. Illegal schools have been decaying the basic knowledge that a student should get during his upbringing.
Security is the last thing any school wishes to concentrate on taking into consideration the acute rise in crimes against girl child.
A teacher in one of the schools in Nalasopara west, which was operated in 6 galas, had to be hospitalised as a stray mad dog had entered the school and attacked her. This brave teacher, without batting an eye lid attacked the dog and shooed him away as the dog was about to attack couple of kids. In the bargain, the teacher sustained grievous injuries and was hospitalised in Vasai government hospital. Students are forced to compromise on basic statutory rights like good basic education, hygiene and security.
Change of board, from Maharashtra to Delhi board, is seen as the best option to avoid any action that would be taken by the Vasai Panchayat Samiti as Delhi board doesn’t have stringent rules as compared to Maharashtra counterpart.
In the meanwhile, parents affected by this decision need not worry as it would be the illegal schools’ responsibility to enrol students in a nearby legal school.
[alert type=”e.g. warning, danger, success, info” title=””]
In all, 38 schools have been sent a final
notice to close the schools.
Teams to be formed to trace other
such schools Fine of Rs 1 lakh and fine of Rs 10,000
to be imposed on a daily basis
Students impacted as a result of this
drive would be transferred to the near
by legal school
[/alert]
