Mumbai's deputy director of school education issued an order directing officials to shut down unauthorised schools by April 30 and submit a report. Action is to be initiated against all unauthorised or illegal educational institutions, including non-state board schools that have affiliation certificates. There are a total of 674 schools - including 239 in Mumbai - found to be illegal. The state had directed education officers to take action against them before the academic year 2022-23 begins," said Sandeep Sangave, Deputy Director of School Education Mumbai. According to Sangave, there are 218 private unaided schools in the city that have not renewed their recognition certificate which is valid for three years for Std I to VIII under the Right to Education (RTE)Act, 2009.
Interestingly, most of these schools have made it to the defaulter list for the past few years. "These schools are to be shut down and the students should be shifted to government approved/recognised schools nearby. If these schools continue to operate, officials concerned must register an FIR against the management and also levy fines. A detailed report of the same should be submitted and officials must ensure not a single unauthorised school in operating in their district/area," stated Sangave*s order dated April 25.The order also clarified that if the officials concerned fail to initiate action against the illegal schools, they will face action. Section 18 (5) of the RTE Act states that any person or organisation which establishes or runs a school without obtaining a certificate of recognition, or continues to run a school after withdrawal of recognition, shall be liable to a fine which may extend to R1 lakh and in case of continuing contraventions, a fine of Rs 10,000 per day.The director of education (secondary and higher secondary schools), in an order to his divisional subordinates in January, had stated that there should be no unauthorised schools in the state by the next academic year. In the order issued on January 9, he cracked the whip on divisional deputy directors and other district-level education officials about allowing as many as 674 unauthorised schools to remain operational, even though orders to initiate action against them were issued after a defaulter list was made public in May 2022.According to district-wise data, 674 unlicensed/unauthorised schools operate across the state. Of these, the highest number - 239 - are in Mumbai (suburbs and city), followed by 148 schools in Thane. Of the 239 schools in Mumbai, 222 schools are from the Maharashtra State Board and the remaining 17 are from other education boards in the country.