Private schools in Chandigarh under scanner for flouting rules

CHANDIGARH - Private schools of this union territory (UT) are up in arms against the Chandigarh administration over the surprise inspections being conducted of their premises. But the education department says it is determined to crack down on private schools that “function like business units”.

Based on its surprise checks, the UT administration is sending recommendations to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in New Delhi, apprising it about errant private schools here.

Taking cognizance of these recommendations, CBSE had a few weeks ago cancelled the affiliation of city-based Shivalik Public School as the school authorities were reportedly found flouting CBSEs guidelines.

The Chandigarh administration is unnecessarily harassing us. Instead of concentrating on their own work they are interfering in a different domain. They have themselves adopted the role of CBSE and are trying to bully private schools, which is totally intolerable, H.S. Mamik, president of the Independent Schools Association, Chandigarh, told IANS.

He added: We are wondering who has given them the authority to conduct an inspection of private schools. This is the job of CBSE officials. If UT administration has any problem then they can approach us anytime but writing recommendations to CBSE is totally illogical.

There are around 55 private schools in Chandigarh where tens of thousands of students study. Recently the UT education department had also sent a similar report about another private school here to the CBSE.

Members of the Independent Schools Association have sought the intervention of UT administrator Shivraj Patil, who is also the Punjab governor, in this matter.

We have met the UT administrator and have appealed to him to intervene; he has assured us that he will look into this case, said Mamik.

They should first look after government schools of Chandigarh, which is their main responsibility, he stated.

However, the UT administration is in no mood to loosen its noose over private schools flouting the guidelines prescribed by the CBSE.

We cannot allow anybody to defy the rules. They have to be consistent and ensure quality education. We will certainly take strict action against the schools that are found not following CBSE norms, UT Home-cum-Education Secretary Ram Niwas told IANS.

The UT administration has constituted a high-powered committee to conduct a survey in order to identify wayward private schools in Chandigarh.

The committee will look into all aspects like building bye-laws, school infrastructure, laboratories and teacher-student ratio, and accordingly submit the report. If we find any anomaly then we will forward the report, along with our recommendations, to the CBSE to take appropriate action, said Niwas.

Problems of private schools do not end here as a few days ago the Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued notice to all private schools of Chandigarh in connection with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a city-based social activist Hemant Goswami.

The PIL said that despite being allotted land at highly subsidised prices, the private schools were not providing the mandatory 15 percent free seats to economically poor students.

The UT administration has been allotting land to educational institutions run by so- acclaimed non-profit societies at subsidised prices. But they are not reserving 15 percent seats for poor students, Goswami told IANS.

They cannot operate like business and commercial units. If they want to run a business out of education, let them purchase land at commercial prices in the open market, he added.