Punjab Government on Wednesday closed the chapter for 473 “non-affiliated” private schools, for not fulfilling norms under the Right to Education Act.
“These schools which have yet not implemented the provisions of RTE Act, 2009, have been asked to wind up their functioning immediately,” said Education and language Minister Sikander Singh Maluka. These private schools have been given time till March 31 to fulfill all the norms.
Maluka added that the State Government has been sympathetic towards these educations institutions for long and they have time and again requested to adhere to the RTE Act. But, these private schools were in denial mode to implement the RTE in their institutions.
“These schools were bound to get affiliations under the RTE Act, 2009, norms for free and compulsory education. This circumstance forced the State Government to take strict and bold action against all these money-making institutions,” he added.
The minister maintained that nearly 37,813 affected students of these schools could get admissions in the government schools, the admissions for which is still continuing. Maluka assured support to these school children.
“A fine of Rs1lakh would be imposed on the schools which disobey the Government order and still continuing their activities. After this, these schools would be fined Rs10,000 per day for non-compliance,” added Maluka.
Maluka said that only 1,935 schools filled the self-declaration form to get the affiliation out of total 9,301 schools upto January 2012. The remaining schools have been accorded more than a year upto March 31, 2013, to fulfill the conditions.
“473 schools failed to get the affiliation pursuing the proper norms which have been shut down by the Punjab Government,” he added.
The Minister has also issued instructions to the Director General School Education (DGSE) to ensure the closure of these schools.
Directions have also been issued to the District Educations Officers (DEOs) to ensure the admission of the affected students in the nearby government schools in consultation with their parents.
“It would be imperative for any private institutions, which intends to open school, to get affiliation from the education department fulfilling RTE Act norms,” said Maluka.