The Chennai District Collectorate released a list of 331 play schools on Monday, which are unrecognised by the state government and do not have the necessary certification. Euro kids, Kidzee, Smart kids play school, Pearl nursery and primary school, Little Millennium play school, are some of the schools which are included in the list.
The Block Education Officers (BEO) and the Block Resource teachers submitted a report that these schools were functioning without obtaining the mandatory recognition of the school education department. Although, there are no strict rules regarding inspections, these officers conduct frequent visits and inspections every 6 months to identify unrecognized schools. Their reports are then submitted to the district administration, Chennai District Collector A Shanmuga Sundaram told TNM.
Schools which do not possess the necessary documents, infrastructure and do not comply with the safety norms, have been issued a closure notice after giving them two notices within a timeframe of every three months, by the school education department. Along with a police escort, the District Education Officer (DEO) will personally ensure the closure of these schools.
The District Collector has appealed to the parents of the students, to verify and demand the recognition status of schools which must be put up on their notice board, before admission. If the institution is unrecognised, they should intimate the district authorities about it and action will be taken as per norms. To further inform the parents, the list of unrecognised schools will be published in the newspaper and it will also be put up on the district website of the education department.
According to a report in The Hindu, in February 2019, the management of a private school in Chennai was alleged to have made false claims regarding the school’s affiliation with CBSE. As a result, the class 10 students had not received their hall tickets ahead of their exams. To avoid further problems, the state school education department reiterated that all schools (government aided schools, private matriculation schools, CBSE and ICSE schools as well as schools following the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the International General Certificate of Secondary Education) have to get state recognition.
The Chennai Collectorate had released a list of 25 schools, earlier in May 2019, that were functioning without obtaining government recognition. Of the 25 schools, nine had claimed that they were affiliated to CBSE as per a report in The Times of India. This included top schools like Narayana E-Techno in Maduravoyal, Sri Chaitanya Techno in Ambattur etc.
According to the Right to Education Act, schools are not permitted to function without recognition and they also need to renew the recognition once every three years. In addition to this, schools must obtain building stability certification, a no objection certificate from the Health Department, and fire safety certification.
The students across all the 331 schools face a difficult situation as their families have to admit them in other schools. A Shanmuga said that, “They will try to accommodate the students in Corporation and Government schools.”