Action against 674 unrecognised schools under RTE (Representational pic/PTI)
Several schools, according to the education department, do not register for approval under RTE or renew their approval to evade RTE admissions
The Maharashtra Education Department has ordered a crackdown against more than 600 schools for not being recognised under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Days ago, it came to light that fake no-objection certificates (NOCs) have been issued to three Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools and the information of 666 other schools did not match the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE). Soon after this news made headlines, the Maharashtra education department decided to check the authorisations of all schools that are affiliated with boards other than state boards.
The documents of more than 2,600 schools in Maharashtra will be examined by the concerned officials and if found fake, then criminal action will be taken against the respective schools, reported Hindustan Times. “Schools must have three important documents which include the school commencement certificate, state government no objection certificate for affiliation, and affiliation certificate from the concerned board,” a senior education department official said on condition of anonymity to the news portal.
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The official further stated that schools are first required to submit all their attested copies of the original documents that are held by them. Following that the documents of the schools will be verified and then cleared, the news portal added. If any irregularities or loopholes are found in the documents, criminal action will be taken. So far, the period of verification of documents has not been fixed by the state education department. However, efforts are being made to complete this documentation process as soon as possible, the senior education department official added.
Earlier this month, the Maharashtra education department received information that fake NOCs had been allotted to three CBSE schools in Pune, as per The Indian Express report. The fake NOCs were bearing the forged signatures of high-ranking officials in the state education ministry. Within no time, the three schools were investigated in this context. They also lodged a police complaint in this regard.
Currently, registration of schools for Right to Education admissions for the academic year 2023-24 is underway. The registration of schools will go on until February 3, 2023, as the process will be a centralised system. It is the office of the Director of Education (DoE) which conducts the RTE admissions. They recently released a circular restating that it is compulsory for all schools to register themselves for RTE admission.
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