239 illegal schools in Mum, 34 in Pune

PUNE: In a shocking revelation, it has been found that 674 illegal or unauthorised schools are operational in Maharashtra currently even as state education minister Varsha Gaikwad has instructed to review such schools and asked the state education commissioner to take necessary action against these schools. Out of the 674 illegal schools, 34 schools are from Pune district and 239 schools are from Mumbai district.

Whereas a total 222 schools are from the Maharashtra State Board and the remaining 16 schools are from other education boards in the country. The list of these schools was made on the basis of information given by the state government Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE). According to this data, these 674 schools do not have state approval neither do they have any valid recognition from the state education department.

“We had got the list of these 674 schools through email from the state education department and it is necessary for students and their parents to know about these schools as they are still operational. To avoid the academic loss of students, the state government should immediately take strict action against these schools and publish the list of all such schools on the official website of the state education department,” said Amar Ekad, president of the COPS Students’ Union.

“For this issue, we met state education minister Varsha Gaikwad a few days ago and recently, she has given instructions to the state education commissioner to immediately review the list and take necessary action,” added Ekad. Schools that do not have the necessary permission and approval from the state education department will be punishable under section 18 (5) of the Maharashtra Primary Education Act.

Talking about the issue, state education commissioner Suraj Mandhare said, “The process of reviewing the schools’ permissions is going on continuously and as I have taken charge recently, I will look into this issue. And if the schools do not have legal permission and approvals, then action will be taken against them.”

We met state education minister and she has instructed the commissioner to review the list and take action AMAR EKAD, president of the COPS Students’ Union