Education dept asks 29 illegal schools in Mumbai to shut down

There are 29 unauthorised primary and secondary schools running in the western suburbs for the last 10 years, a recent check by the education department across different zones in the city has revealed.

These have been operating without approval from the state education department between Bandra and Dahisar.

The department has sent notices to the schools asking them to shut down. Education inspector, Western Zone, PR Pawar, however, said, “We can only send them notices. The menace will continue as long as parents keep turning to them. We appeal to parents to not admit their children in these schools.”

Malad’s Holy Spirit High School and Students Academy, Jogeshwari’s Young Indian School and Kandivli’s Bright Light English School are some of them.

A majority of the unauthorised schools have been running classes from Stds I to VIII, but some also have Std IX batches. They have students anywhere between five and 25 in every division of every standard.
“Most of these might have appealed to the government for permission. But they have not received any. This a huge scam; children’s future is at stake. If parents admit their children in such schools, we do not take any responsibility for them,” he said.

Students from unauthorised schools can’t appear for SSC exams. They are forced to appear as private candidates by filling Form 17, which allows students who have failed in Std VIII or IX to take the exams privately.

Also, any kind of certificate from such schools is not valid and not accepted anywhere. Other schools do not even accept school leaving certificates from unauthorised schools.
“We are asking parents of children studying in such schools to seek admission elsewhere. The department will provide special letters to the students to help them secure admission in authorised schools. Parents check the authorisation of a school before admitting their children there,” Pawar said.

Before starting a school, an organisation has to take the state government’s approval. The government gets a declaration printed in newspapers that states organisations can send their proposals to the education department. The proposals are then put forth before the district and the state committees. Based on their recommendations, the permission is granted. After that, the deputy director of education’s office gives the approved organisation/s recognition or authorisation.