Private schools that do not register with the School Education Department or fail to fulfill the infrastructural norms as provided in the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 face closure by next year.
The Department has already issued a notice extending the last date of submitting application for registration to April 15. Earlier, the last date of registration was till March 31 that coincided with the deadline fixed in the RTE Act for provision of necessary teaching facilities and infrastructure in the schools.
Bhopal District Education Officer (DEO) CM Upadhyay informed on Friday that the private schools will be inspected by the education department officials before they are registered with the department to check compliance with the RTE Act norms. The inspections would be done in the month of May and June.
“In case any school is found wanting in implementation of the norms stipulated under the RTE Act, it will be issued a notice to fulfill the norms within the same academic year. The children studying in such schools and their parents would also be informed about the likelihood of closure of the school in case it fails to adhere to the RTE Act norms. This is to ensure that they have an advance notice,” he told.
In case, the school fails to provide the necessary facilities, it will be closed down subsequently and children studying in such school will be shifted to the nearby government schools, he added.
He also informed that in the district, there are nearly 1200 private schools that have been given interim recognition by the department. “Most of these schools fulfill the RTE Act norms,” he noted, adding that the Department has already received applications for registration from nearly 200 schools.