published by, Sukanya Nandi
Last Update: April 08, 2023, 13:07 IST
Maharashtra’s education commissioner also advised parents to inquire about schools before admitting their children (Representational Image)
State Education Commissioner Suraj Mandhare also said that criminal action would be taken against schools with serious mistakes in documents.
Maharashtra’s education department has put 800 schools affiliated to various boards under scanner for allegedly running a fraud campaign. State Education Commissioner Suraj Mandhare commented on the issue of bogus schools after the RTE lottery was announced in Pune on Wednesday, April 5.
“Around 800 schools affiliated to the boards in the state are running on fake certificates and errors have been found in their documents. At least 100 of these schools have been closed permanently,” he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. Mandhare also said that criminal action would be taken against schools with serious mistakes in the documents.
The State Education Commissioner also advised parents to inquire about the schools before admitting their children. Mandhare said that before starting the admission process, parents should check the documents and registration number of the school on the online portal of the state government.
The State Board of Education had earlier inspected more than 1300 schools. According to Mandhare, out of the total, errors were found in the documents of 800 schools. The No Objection Certificate (NOC), approval certificate from the concerned board as well as letter of intent issued by the state government are being verified for these institutions. If these documents are not correct, the recognition of the school will be canceled. After the cancellation of recognition, these schools can seek relief from the courts.
Education officials have been instructed to discuss the matter with the Deputy Director of Education and prepare a concrete action proposal for the matter, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Mandhare had earlier clarified that the ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) of the Central Board of Secondary Education. Education (CBSE) affiliated schools in Maharashtra will be verified to check their authenticity. Earlier this year it was announced that several schools in Pune were functioning as CBSE affiliated institutions without the required NOC. According to a report in the Indian Express, there are over 2,000 CBSE-affiliated schools in Maharashtra.
An FIR in this matter was lodged by Sunanda Wakhre, education officer in the secondary education department of Pune Zilla Parishad, against unknown persons at Pune’s Samarth police station. Following the complaint, the police started an investigation into the matter, in which three schools were named. A senior official had said that the possibility of an organized racket issuing fake NOCs for CBSE affiliation is also being probed.
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