Following complaints of most of the private schools not following the Government order on National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) books, the education department has set up block level committees comprising officials to enforce the order.
In an order issued, the director general (DG) education, Alok Shekhar Tiwari has directed that the three-member committee would be headed by the block education officer (BEO) concerned while the deputy education officer and the principal of the Government Inter College located at the block headquarters would be the members of the committee.
In the order, the DG education, further, said that the order of Uttarakhand High Court (HC) dated April 21 this year had directed that it is mandatory for all the private schools, including those affiliated by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), to provide NCERT books to the students.
The court had, further, said that the schools are free to implement books of the private publishers but their price should not exceed the cost of the NCERT books. On receiving complaints of the parents, the department had conducted an inquiry of private CBSE schools in some districts during which it was found that the schools were openly flouting the HC order.
The DG has authorised the three-member block level committee to regularly conduct inspection of the private schools under their jurisdictional limits and send monthly reports.
Apart from reporting about the status of NCERT textbooks in the private schools, the committee would also report about books of the private publishers recommended by the schools and their total cost.
The members of the committee would further see whether or not the information about CBSE syllabus and NCERT books is uploaded on the school website.
The DG has also asked the committee to see to it that the necessary conditions are being followed while issuing no- objection certificate (NOC) for CBSE affiliation by the schools.
The members of the committee would also inform about the number of teaching and non -teaching staff deployed by the schools, their educational qualifications and the salaries they are being paid.
The committee would also keep an eye on the fees like development charges, caution money and admission charges levied by the school and inform the department in its monthly report.